Jeremy Edwards, Deputy Press Secretary, Mayor’s Press Office: Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. My name is Jeremy Edwards, and I am deputy press secretary for transportation, infrastructure and emergency management at City Hall. I'd like to thank you all for being here today, especially those who made the trip despite the heat, as well as everyone for joining us online. As those of you who traveled here well know, we are currently experiencing extreme weather in the form of dangerously high temperatures. In just a moment, you'll hear from Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and key members of his administration regarding extreme weather preparedness this summer. After the remarks, we'll have some time for questions.
If you have a question, please raise your hand, and once recognized, state your full name and the outlet you represent. And a reminder about the microphones that are in front of you; they'll be passed to you if needed. Following Q&A, our colleagues from the Department of Environmental Protection will conduct a flood kit demonstration. After that, several of the experts seated at the table will be available for one-on-one interviews as needed. As a reminder, the Q&A will be on topic only. If you have any off-topic questions, my colleague, Ivonne, will be able to assist you once we wrap up. With that, it is my pleasure and honor to turn things over to Mayor Mamdani. Thank you.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Morning everyone, thank you again for being here. It's a real pleasure to have all of you here at City Hall. And we are gathering because of the fact that while we know that our city has long dealt with summer hazards, with the acceleration of the climate crisis, we are seeing the intensification of these kinds of events. And within the past month alone, we have seen our city deal with hazardous air quality, extreme heat [and] flooding. We also know that hurricane season is on the horizon. Now we have been hard at work to prepare for this moment and all of the moments that will come after this. Not that long ago, I was standing alongside our DEP commissioner to celebrate the Bureau of Coastal Resilience and the more than $40 million that we were investing to increase the operating capacity around initiatives that include having new flood walls that are learning from the legacy that our city had when it came to Sandy.
And we also know that the information that we are sharing, it is only worth as much as people are actually hearing it. And so much of the importance of all of you being here this morning is that we know that so many New Yorkers look to you, they look to your outlets, they look to your publications, they look at your TV channels to get a better sense of the world around them and the city that they live in. And what we want to do is to make sure that no matter what language a New Yorker speaks or what publication they read, that they all understand that the heat that we are talking about right now, the potential of flash flooding; these are not just things to shrug your shoulders at and persevere through; these are things to also prepare for. So, I appreciate all of you being here, and I also want to say thank you to leaders that we have within City government as well in joining us this morning.
Edwards: All right. With that — thank you for that, mayor — we'll kick it over to Ben Krakauer, the first deputy commissioner from NYCEM.
Ben Krakauer, First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Emergency Management: Thanks, Jeremy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We're clearly living in a new norm of extreme weather here in New York City. In just the first half of this year, we saw the earliest heat advisory ever issued on May 18, along with record high temperatures, including 80 degrees in March and 90 degrees in April. Just weeks before that, we had record-breaking snowfall in both the Bronx and Staten Island and 16 consecutive days of below-freezing temperatures — the second-longest cold snap on record. More recently, we saw air quality alerts from distant wildfires; another example of a rare weather pattern becoming more routine. We've had storms drop heavy rain with intense flash flooding in some neighborhoods like Hollis, Queens, in May. Severe thunderstorms in July brought the first tornado watch for New York City in almost five years. And we are approaching the heart of hurricane season.
Our job at New York City Emergency Management is to prepare the city and all of its people for these hazards and then respond when the impacts occur. We work hard to reach New Yorkers with the information they need to stay safe, and we know we can't do that alone. Your outlets are essential partners in getting timely, life-saving guidance to New Yorkers, and we value that partnership and are eager for your feedback on how we can improve our messaging strategies. As we face more extreme weather, getting this information out is more important than ever. As we have tragically seen, flash flooding can turn deadly within minutes, which is why every New Yorker needs to have a plan for where they will go when flash flooding is possible. Nearly 3.5 million New Yorkers live in a hurricane evacuation zone. We need every New Yorker to know their zone and make a plan for where they will go if a coastal storm threatens our city. We've built a lot of tools to reach New Yorkers directly: Notify NYC, 311, LinkNYC kiosks, programs like our Strengthening Communities [Program], and the advanced warning system for healthcare providers. And the mayor [has] challenged us to do more and [take] action for every impacted New Yorker. Every day we're improving our emergency plans and developing new tools to keep New York safe, like safe locations during flash flooding that we opened twice now in the last few weeks, because of the mayor's strong commitment to emergency preparedness. Thank you again for your partnership, and we look forward to continuing this important work together. I'll turn it back over to Jeremy.
Edwards: Thank you for that, Ben. I'm going to kick it over to Dr. Allister Martin, commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Allister Martin, Commissioner, Department of Health and Hygiene: Thank you very much. And thank you, Mr. Mayor, for bringing us together. Thank you all for being here. When we look at the data in terms of emergencies related to heat, what we find is that heat-related emergencies are the number one environmental emergency that New Yorkers face today. Over 500 New Yorkers every single year lose their lives to heat-related illness, but when we peel that data back even further, what we see is that the vast majority of those deaths are happening because individuals have underlying medical conditions, which are exacerbated by the heat.
We see it in the emergency room all the time: people coming in with shortness of breath, chest pain, their lung disease, [or] their heart disease worsened by the heat. And yet, it's important for folks to also know that heat itself can be a direct killer. Things like heat stroke and heat exhaustion are some of the things that we want New Yorkers to know to retain and to be able to spot the symptoms of — things like nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness [and] fatigue. These are signs and symptoms to call your doctor, call 911, [or] get to the nearest emergency room.
Under this mayor, we've taken unprecedented action to keep New Yorkers safe in this heat. Over 600 cooling centers all across the city have been made available for New Yorkers where they can beat the heat. And for the first time, the New York City Health Department has opened its own facilities to be places where New Yorkers can come escape the heat. In fact, at our East Harlem Action Center location, an elderly couple who had never been to our action center came in for the first time. They escaped the heat; they also got nutrition services and connected to a dietitian. So, for these folks, it was important to escape the heat, but they also got the critical nutrition services [and] the medical services that they needed.
We're also proud to announce that this is the first year we've ever had the Health Department run misting stations for deliveristas and for people who are outdoor workers. They're able to get cool water, cool mist and escape the heat in that way. I was just at the Jackson Heights Misting Station a couple weeks back. At the end of the day, it's important for New Yorkers to remember the signs and symptoms of heat stroke and heat exhaustion and also to access the cooling center resources and our whole bevy of resources to beat the heat. You can go to nyc.gov/beattheheat for more.
Edwards: Thank you, sir. And last, but certainly not least, we're going to hear from our commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Lisa Garcia.
Lisa Garcia, Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection: Great, thank you very much, buenos días, Lisa Garcia, commissioner for [the] Department of Environmental Protection. So, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, everyone, for being here. We really do depend on our partners in getting the message out. So, I'll just go through a few high-level messages that are really important. Stay hydrated. DEP delivers the best drinking water in the world. It's safe to drink [and] helps cool you off and stay hydrated. The other is to use a spray cap. It's really important that during these high heat days, everyone wants to cool off, but we need to make sure that we are maintaining the pressure of our water system. And if you wanna turn on the hydrant and cool off, use a spray cap, because it helps reduce the amount of water that we're wasting. And the Fire Department and DEP can help you get one of those spray caps to cool off.
The other is to help us clear a catch basin or a storm drain, or if not, call 311; we will help get out there. It's really important that, during the potential for flash flooding, our drains are clear so that they can take in the water and make sure that we're draining all that rain and precipitation. So, help us clear them or call 311, and we'll get out and help clear those catch basins. And the other is, as everyone's saying, please prepare. If you know of — we know that these are high-heat days, so prepare, make sure that you know where the cooling center is, but also with flash floods, just prepare for the flooding.
And DEP is gonna go through a presentation on our flood kits. I think you have water alarms next to you — really important. If there are rising waters, the alarm will go off. Anyway, it's really important that we all prepare. And maybe even remove ourselves [and] get to higher ground or go visit a friend. Again, the spray caps, I just want to reiterate this — spray caps for the hydrants are really important. Because we want to maintain enough water pressure for emergency response, also during these times of heat waves or high heat, there are potentials for fires, and so we want the Fire Department to have enough pressure to be able to respond. It's also illegal to open a hydrant; it can waste thousands of gallons of drinking water, and so we really want to reduce that use and waste of water so that the Fire Department has enough pressure.
And as everyone's saying, we all need to prepare for climate change — it is here. DEP is partnering — as the mayor mentioned — on making sure that we're protecting from coastal flooding, sea level rise, and storm surges, but also for inland flooding, like stormwater flooding. And we all depend on our partners and each other because we can't do it alone. So, thank you for being here.
Edwards: Thank you all for your remarks. I'm gonna kick it over to the Q&A. As a reminder, please just raise your hand if you have a question. We’re gonna try to get to as many people as possible, I promise. And of course, if we don't get to you, we've got some folks staying behind to answer any questions you might have until we're done. Alright, we're gonna just move along the table.
Question: The first one is related to the delivery workers and outdoor workers because outdoor workers have to work during extreme conditions. So, I'm wondering what protections does the city currently provide for these workers, and are there any plans to strengthen those protections as the extreme weather becomes more frequent?
Mayor Mamdani: Yeah, I think first, thank you for your question, because as you've laid out, there are a number of New Yorkers for whom their workplace is outdoors. And when the weather reaches this level of intensity — again — we are talking about a heat index of around 100 degrees. We know that the consequences for those who are outside can be serious. And to your question — yes — we are continuing to work on this. This was the subject of an executive order that I signed not that long ago, where guidance is being created across City government.
Even in advance of that, we have been sending out information to employers to encourage them to create plans for their employees who have to work out in the heat. And we know that there are many workers for whom the absence of those plans have real impact on their health. At that press conference where I signed the executive order, we heard from an airport worker who spoke about the fact that the heat index is one thing. Oftentimes in these workplaces, it is even higher because of the nature of the job. So, when he was loading bags onto a plane, I think it was at least designed to protect—
[Audio Drops].
Commissioner Allister: —mayor signed to protect workers in these inclement weather scenarios. Our role in that is to help craft the health-related guidelines and criteria by which we at the Health Department will convey those guidelines to other city agencies and also use that as a model for the private sector here in the city. And I think there is an opportunity for us in the city to provide a model for other cities to do this in a way that keeps workers safe as well.
Question: The second question is: last year, former Mayor Adams proposed a pilot program to legalize basement apartments as a way to expand housing conditions. But we also saw tragic cases of residents living in the basement unit dying during flooding. So, what's your administration's plan for moving forward with these proposals?
Mayor Mamdani: Our plan, first and foremost, is a plan about safety. How do we ensure that every New Yorker is living in a safe and habitable place? And one of the ways we do that is by bringing basement apartments up to code. And so, what we have done differently in our administration is we've actually invested more than $1 million in bringing a program to life for homeowners who want to ensure that they have a habitable basement apartment that they can rent out.
And the reason, as you've said in your question, is that there are many New Yorkers who already live in basement apartments. However, they are living in apartments that do not have all of the standards that would make them a healthy place. And then, in a moment of this kind of flooding, that is brought to bear. And amidst this, I also know that we can pass it over to NYCEM, but NYCEM also has specific messaging for residents of basement apartments. A specific messaging line [and] a specific chat that is looking to always ensure that New Yorkers know when they need to get out of that apartment, when they need to get to higher ground.
Because as you've said, April, we've seen in previous storms that a number of these fatalities have occurred in these kinds of apartments. I used to represent Astoria and Long Island City in the State Assembly during [Hurricane] Ida. That was some of the closest calls that we had, and we know that some people lost their lives elsewhere in the borough of Queens. I don't know if there's anything you'd want to add.
Krakauer: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Great — I appreciate the question. As the mayor said, we do have as part of the NOTIFY NYC system, which we encourage every New Yorker to sign up for, and they can do that by downloading the app, through the App Store on either Apple or Android or visiting nyc.gov/NOTIFYNYC. We have a specific basement notification group, where we send out messaging to those that live in basement apartments any time that there is a flooding risk.
And I'll also just add that for the first time in the city's history, when we had two cases of high risk of flash flooding overnight, we opened up 51 [of] what we call safe locations, one in every City Council district across the city, to give New Yorkers who want a safe place to ride out the storm that was not their basement apartment, a safe place to go.
Edwards: Thank you for your question. Just a reminder, we just want to get to as many people as possible. So, please just one question per person and also remember the microphones; they cannot hear you on the live stream if you do not have the microphone.
Question: A lot of our riders, they live in southeast Queens [and] central Brooklyn, and they rely on public transportation. And we see oftentimes during these storms that these subways are flooded. Any plans in place to work with the MTA to provide alternate transportation routes? And then, particularly, what we often see is that the ride-sharing apps have surcharges; [is there] anything in place there to prevent that during these storms?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I — when it comes to the MTA, we have been having conversations with them as to all that we can be doing together to combat flooding. As you know, we have seen this in our city for years and decades, and we also know that it's not acceptable. And a lot of this is a legacy of sewage infrastructure that is more than 100 years old. And yet, we are looking at every single avenue we have to make it easier for New Yorkers to get around the city, because we know that no matter how hot it gets, no matter how cold it is, there are still many New Yorkers who have to get to work. And we want to make sure that this is as easy as possible for them.
Separately, a lot of what we see when it comes to flooding, we are looking to take as many preventative measures as we can. I'm proud to say that in large part, thanks to the incredible work of DEP, we have cleared over 71,000 catch basins in the seven months that we've been in office. We are talking about a period of time where a fourth of this year so far has been under a flash flooding advisory. And when we clear those catch basins, we know that that makes it much easier for us to actually ensure that the water is going into our system, as opposed to it being blocked from that because of garbage or whatever else you may have.
When it comes to the rideshare companies and the surcharge, you know, this is the business model that they have. [It] is one of surge pricing at different points. I would say that it is as good a moment as any to remind New Yorkers that yellow cabs do not have [surge pricing], public transit does not have these kinds of surge pricing, and these are exactly the places that if you want to find stable, consistent pricing, you'll still find them in the midst of these conditions.
Question: I wanted to ask, as you know well, having represented Astoria and Long Island City, the outer boroughs as they were — You're looking at neighborhoods, by and large, that have been redlined and often suffered disproportionately because of disinvestment and neglect, and so they are hotter, they are more dangerous because of the heat and because of related circumstances. So, I'm wondering what your message would be to residents in these communities that feel that, in fact, they have been overlooked and that they're scorched — they are really in a bad spot. And what your administration specifically sees as an imprimatur to change that. What does it look like after you're done with this?
Mayor Mamdani: I think the first thing I would say to these neighborhoods is: “We hear you.” We are speaking about neighborhoods in our city that have either been last on the list or not on the lists at all. And I think that the clearest way to show a recognition of that is to demonstrate a different course of action. And so, one of the critical parts of our response has also been investment. How do we ensure that we are investing the requisite amount of money to transform the material reality of these New Yorkers? You spoke of southeast Queens; we have a multi-billion-dollar commitment of investing in flood prevention initiatives in southeast Queens.
And when we're looking across the city, the different kinds of things we can do; it goes from porous pavement, to bioswales, to cloudburst technology, to any which way that we can both absorb more water as well as prevent the kind of flooding that we have seen become the norm. The other thing I would add is that I understand that it will take time to earn New Yorkers' trust in these neighborhoods, because when it was flooding in Hollis recently, and I went and I spoke to a number of homeowners, a woman told me that she has had to deal with this for 30 years. That's many different mayoral administrations; I would not begrudge her if it takes her time to trust this one.
And we are looking at everything we can do differently. You know, we procured flood kits that — I'm sorry, pump kits — that can actually help these homeowners to pump out some of the excess water that they have had to deal with. And that's now a part of our response strategy. And we are exploring a number of different ways in which we can turn the page on what's really been a story of neglect for many, many years.
[Inaudible.]
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, that it includes every single option that we have, absolutely. Thank you
Commissioner Allister Martin: The data for us, when we were looking at where we do deploy — for instance, our cooling centers at the health department — was pointing us in these very neighborhoods, in tree neighborhoods; places like Tremont and the Bronx and East Harlem and Brownsville, Brooklyn. And so, our cooling center deployment was very much focused on: how do we make sure communities that need these resources get these resources from the Health Department, as well as our misting stations, where outdoor workers and deliveristas are enjoying this resource and staying cool? Similarly, we used the data and the evidence to demonstrate where to deploy those resources. For instance, the misting station in Jackson Heights that I referenced earlier. So from our standpoint, the data is driving the deployment of these resources at the health department, as well.
Question: My name is Aisha Arain from [inaudible] NYC. My question was on language accessibility. So, we are based in Midwood, Brooklyn, which is an immigrant community. And like a lot of immigrant communities in New York City, a lot of its residents do not use English as their primary language on a day-to-day basis. A lot of the older residents aren't on Instagram; they aren't online.
If they call a hotline, will someone be able to speak their regional language? A lot of these older residents have medical conditions that are exacerbated by heat, especially. And they may be victim to some of those statistics that we were talking about earlier. So, are there any new initiatives or older ones that are in place for residents who do not have English as their primary language? Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: I'll start, and then I'll pass it over to you. I think your question also highlights the importance of roundtables like this one, because we know that there are many New Yorkers for whom English may not be their first language. And the publications around this table may be the ones that they read; the radios may be the ones that they listen to; the TVs may be the ones they watch. And we want to make sure that there is no hierarchy of information based upon what language you speak in the city; that every person who lives in the city understands both the heat wave that we are speaking about, the ways in which they should prepare, and the tools that they have on offer. So, language access is critically important to us, also in the services that we provide. And I'm just going to pass it over now to NYCEM to add a few additional details to that.
Krakauer: Thank you, mayor. Thanks for the question. So, we absolutely agree. Language access has been, you know, a core tenet of our emergency public notification program since the very beginning. NotifyNYC messages — that program I spoke about earlier — are available in the 13 most-common languages spoken in New York City, and people can register. It includes American Sign Language. All of our messages have video with closed captioning. And then if people need a different language, they can call 311 and 311 has access to hundreds of languages through their translation service. And they can read the message to the New Yorker and make sure they get the information that they need.
Question: So basically, I understand this proposal that the city has in order to try to prevent flooding. And since you invest more resources, the results are going to be better. So, my question is: Do you have any plan including the Trump administration in order to work together as a team to have more resources trying to make more benefits for people in these kinds of situations? Or so far, the Trump administration is not included in these kinds of plans?
Mayor Mamdani: I will always look for any possible partnership, whether at the federal or state level, to deliver for New Yorkers. I will also be honest that while we leave that door open, what we have found instead when it comes to the federal administration has oftentimes been cuts to funding to programs that are incredibly important. Today, we are speaking about a heat wave, and we're also speaking about the health impacts of that heat wave.
If we speak about federal policy as it pertains to health, it's been a lot of very cruel cuts that have significant impacts on New Yorkers' ability to stay healthy in the city. And I know that that is a lot of what Commissioner Martin's work focuses on. I don't know if there's anything that you'd want to add, too.
Dr. Martin: Absolutely. Thank you. Our responsibility at the health department is to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers, and core to that is making sure that New Yorkers have health coverage they can rely on and depend on. And what we've seen recently, at least with regard to federal policy — I’ll give you a specific example of HR1 — attempts to chip away to undermine that sort of core, that bedrock that New Yorkers rely on.
We’ve seen it recently with cuts to the Essential Plan, which have meant that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers now don't have access to reliable and affordable health insurance. And we're also concerned about the coming changes that will begin in January when these Medicaid changes take effect. But our role, our responsibility at the Health Department and across city agencies under this mayor, is to step in when the federal government steps back from its responsibility, and that's what you can expect from us.
Question: [Inaudible] work together with the Trump administration in order to get finally these resources?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we have to be realistic as to what the administration's focus has been, what policies they've pursued, and always leave the door open in case there is a change of approach. We will never be above working with anyone if it can benefit New Yorkers.
Question: Thank you, mayor, for providing this platform. My question is: What is New York City’s plan to ensure immediate access to drinking water during extreme heat events? Is the city considering water pouches, bottles or IV water pouches, their distribution at subway centers and parks, cooling centers, et cetera?
Mayor Mamdani: I really appreciate this question, and I think you heard it from our DEP Commissioner that we do have the best drinking water in the world. And one of the most beautiful things about it is that this water is water that you don't have to purchase a water bottle to have. You can find it at a water fountain in your local park. Just yesterday, I was alongside a number of incredible Parks workers helping to bring to life a few additional water fountains in Prospect Park. This is work that is going to continue because we want to make it easy for New Yorkers to stay hydrated wherever they are.
And then you heard it earlier — when it comes to this heat wave, when it comes to heat indices of around 100 degrees — we want to encourage everyone to drink even more water than they would think they need to. It is important to stay hydrate in this time. It is important to take every precaution you can. We will have water available at our hundreds of cooling centers. We also have cool vans, which is a new approach that we've started, where these are mobile vans that have electrolytes; they have cold water; they have a place for people to cool down with air conditioning. They also have food to ensure that people are staying healthy. And that will be the case across the five boroughs. And it will also be the case that we have check-ins with older adults that are vulnerable to this level of temperature, because we know that every year around 500 New Yorkers lose their lives as a result of the heat. And we'd never want people to simply treat this weekend like any other. We want them to be prepared for what is very serious conditions and take every precaution they can.
Edwards: Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Do you have anything else, commissioner? Okay. Well, thank you all for joining us. That's all we have time for today on the question front. In a moment, one of our colleagues from DEP is going to come up and do a flood demonstration, but that's it for questions. Thank you. We're going to conclude the live stream. If you have more questions here in the room, feel free to come up to me or Ivonne, and we'll get those answers for you. Thanks again
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you so much.
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