A staggering 96% of requests for assistance from homeless individuals in New York City have gone unanswered since the severe cold weather hit, according to findings from the Post. It appears that city workers often struggle to locate those in need.
This painful revelation follows the testimony from the city’s medical examiner, who confirmed that at least 15 of the 18 fatalities during the recent cold snap were due to hypothermia.
During a public hearing, city council members expressed outrage toward outgoing Human Services Secretary Molly Wasow Park and Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iskol regarding the deaths, which stemmed from the administration’s inadequate response to the dangerous weather conditions brought on by Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s leadership.
City Council President Julie Menin remarked at the hearing that “these deaths are not inevitable” and blamed them on a lack of shelter capacity, mental health services, and support systems.
Iskol and Park, both former appointees from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, defended the city’s actions by explaining that the extended cold weather since the January 24 storm has exacerbated hazards for homeless New Yorkers and complicated the situation for city authorities.
Data from the city’s 311 system showed that responders struggled to find those who needed help amid the freezing temperatures. The system recorded 1,183 complaints requesting assistance for the homeless.
Out of these, service workers could not locate the individual in 850 cases—accounting for about 72% of the calls. Additionally, there were about 250 incidents where the homeless individuals declined assistance from mobile support teams.
As part of a response to this ongoing issue, the city transitioned responsibility for handling homeless assistance calls from 311 to 911 operators on January 31, as revealed during the City Council hearing.
Since the cold snap began, Mamdani has repeatedly announced that all calls for homeless assistance would be forwarded to 911.
Park indicated that the city was operating under a “code blue” until January 31, during which 911 calls were only accepted at night from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Following this period, the code blue alert has been upgraded, and all calls for homeless assistance are now directed to a 911 operator, according to Park.
This delay has drawn sharp criticism from city council members. City Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens) stated, “In deep freezing conditions, we must take Code Blue seriously because when lives are at stake, every second counts.” He further emphasized that it was troubling that it took nearly two weeks to reroute emergency calls from 311 to 911.
