NEW YORK (PIX11) – While Monday's temperatures were above average for June 17, they were far lower than where the mercury is forecasted to rise later in the week.
In preparation for a possible heat wave, New York City activated its Heat Emergency Plan, a multi-agency agenda to try and ensure that New Yorkers stay cool during extreme heat.
The plan is already manifesting itself in a variety of ways, including at splash pads and water parks throughout New York City. Those locations are part of the city Parks Department's actions in the effort that includes work by the FDNY, Office of the Aging, NYPD, Homeless Services, Department of Environmental Protection, and other agencies.
Tyasia Smith, the mother of a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old, was benefiting from the Parks Department's part of the city plan at a splash park on 135th Street and Madison Avenue.
"This is the best part of it," Smith said as she pointed to her kids running through the splash pad. "They get to play, and you can just sit in the shade and watch them."
One of the children in the splash pad, Zahir Davis, said he'd heard about the coming heat wave.
"It's gonna be like 1,000 percent" hotter than it was on Monday, the elementary schooler said, as he vowed to return to the splash park every day this week.
The forecast indicates that there will be a need. The National Weather Service predicts temperatures will be in the mid-90s starting on Tuesday, rising to near 100 by Friday. Intense humidity will accompany it, raising the heat indices into the double digits.
That’s why places like the Hamilton Grange Senior Center in Harlem will be invaluable for the next four days.
"Very important," said Sheila Robinson Rivers, an attendee at the center. "You still have activities [in the air conditioning] … without having to feel how uncomfortable it is outside."
Cooling centers are part of the larger Heat Emergency Plan announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Monday, which also includes distributing 1,000 cooling kits to delivery workers and outdoor laborers. The mayor held up a packet of items designed to help workers cool down. It was part of the contribution of the Department of Consumer and Workers' Protection to the Heat Emergency Plan.
There’s also an interactive map that helps New Yorkers find cooling centers. Another interactive map helps people locate splash pads, shady locations, beaches, and other places to cool down outdoors.
It may all be the first of many implementations of the plan this summer.
Rob Frydlewicz, a weather historian who founded the New York City Weather Archive, pointed out this week will bring the first 90-degree days of the year.
"Very few of our hottest summers have had a lot of 90 [degree temperatures] through this date," he said.
Since weather reporting first began in New York City in 1821, the hottest summers have looked like the one into which the city is entering this year.
"So, I have a feeling this summer is going to be on the hot side,” Frydlewicz concluded.
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