Beat the heat: Pro-tips to navigate NYCs cooling centers amid soaring temps this weekend

New Yorkers are gonna be hot to trot.NYC is getting roasted over the next four days, with sweltering humidity that will have a 110-degree feel coming just in time for Fourth of July weekend. Amidst a World Cup knockout match at MetLife Stadium, a potential Swift-Kelce nuptials at Madison Square Garden and citywide America 250 celebrations this weekend, New York Gov.Kathy Hochul announced a warning to people to stay safe in the heat.Yesterday, Mayor Mamdani activated a coordinated Heat Emergency Plan across all five boroughs to ready New Yorkers for historically high temperatures, which includes activating hundreds of cooling centers and cool options. Never-before-used Cooling Outreach On-Location (COOL) vans will be throughout the City providing wellness checks, medical care, water and supplies of electrolytes and sunscreen.

They will also be dispatched to perform in-home wellness checks on older adults. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) will operate Health Action Centers and Overdose Prevention Centers as cooling centers.There will also be pop-up cooling stations through partnerships and community organizations.

Street laborers will be provided with cooling towels. 2,200 LinkNYC Kiosks will have real-time walking directions updated to the nearest cooling centers on the streets. Cooling centers will be available at public hospitals, libraries, older adult centers and other public locations.

The Javits Center and NYCEM Headquarters will be converted to cooling centers from 11 a.m.to 11 p.m. Last Summer, former mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to take precautions and use cooling centers, as it’s common for some New Yorkers to not have air conditioning in their homes or apartments. There were more than 50 cooling centers opened throughout the five boroughs last summer, and people weighed in on the best centers that were available to them last year. One woman told AmNews last summer that cooling centers in the New York Public Library ar...