Overview
- Officials say hypothermia is suspected in about seven of the deaths as the medical examiner completes autopsies and toxicology tests.
- About six of those who died were previously known to the Department of Homeless Services, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- The city activated an Enhanced Code Blue, opened additional warming centers and vans, increased two‑hour checks on high‑risk individuals, and reports moving more than 200 people indoors.
- Hospitals were asked to limit overnight discharges during the cold after one man later found dead carried recent Elmhurst paperwork, while another case appears to be a drug overdose.
- The fatalities intensified calls for forced sheltering or involuntary hospitalization in extreme cold, which the mayor describes as a last resort.