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Stringer said the number of deaths should have triggered an immediate and aggressive emergency response. He compared the situation to other crises that typically spark rapid mobilization from city leadership.
“If there were 10 shooting deaths, there would be a mass mobilization,” he told The Post.
Homeless advocates also acknowledged that the scale of the tragedy is rare and deeply alarming. Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Dave Giffen said he could not recall another winter storm with such a high death toll in such a short period.
“I’ve lived in New York City all my life and I can’t remember a time when so many people have died from a winter storm in such a short period of time, it’s absolutely tragic,” Giffen said Wednesday.
Former public safety officials argued that the city should have acted decisively, even if it meant forcing people into shelters. Former FDNY Commissioner Tom Van Essen said he would not have hesitated to order emergency responders to intervene.
Van Essen said he would have directed firefighters and EMS crews to transport homeless individuals to shelters “whether they like it or not.” He also blamed state lawmakers for making involuntary removals more difficult.
“We have many mentally ill people who are incarcerated at Rikers,” Van Essen said. “But we allow other mentally ill people to freeze to death?”
City data shows that cold exposure deaths are not rare, but the cluster of fatalities this week stands out. Officials recorded 29 cold-related deaths in 2023. Between 2017 and 2023, the city averaged 27 cold exposure deaths per year.
The official causes of death for the ten individuals have not yet been determined by the city medical examiner.
One of the victims was not homeless. According to Gothamist, a 90-year-old woman with dementia wandered away from her Brooklyn apartment and was found dead early Monday morning.
Police said the deaths were spread across four boroughs, with three in Queens, three in Brooklyn, and two each in Manhattan and the Bronx. Six of the victims were already deceased when first responders arrived.
In one case, a 60-year-old man was found unresponsive outside St. Barnabas Hospital early Saturday. He was brought inside but later pronounced dead. In another incident, a construction worker found a naked man in the Bronx on Monday. A 47-year-old man was also discovered slumped on a bench outside a Key Foods supermarket in Queens.
The controversy has intensified because Mamdani took office pledging to reverse homeless enforcement policies under former Mayor Eric Adams. His administration has emphasized outreach over enforcement, even during dangerous weather.
On Tuesday, Mamdani reiterated that forced removals would only occur if someone posed a danger to themselves or others.
“This is a last resort,” he said.
“Our first method of outreach is to communicate to homeless New Yorkers across the five boroughs as to the options that they have,” Mamdani added. “We, however, are not going to leave someone out in the cold if they’re a danger to themselves or to others.”
City Hall said outreach teams were deployed every two hours, additional warming centers were opened, warming vans were added, and faith-based groups were asked to help.
But critics argue the results speak for themselves. Giffen said the storm proved the city’s measures were inadequate.
“Is the city doing enough? I think the answer to that is very clearly no because of the fact there have been so many deaths,” he said.
As temperatures rise, the political fallout is only beginning. For many New Yorkers, the question now is whether city leaders will change course before the next cold snap turns deadly once again.
