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Heat Wave Keeps Its Grip on New York More Than 17,000 Con Edison Customers Are Without Power in Third Day of Heat Wave
(about 4 hours later)
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What is expected to be the final day of a weekend heat wave continued to scorch the city on Sunday. More than 17,000 customers were without power in New York City and Westchester as the third day of dangerously hot weather continued to grip the region, officials said. Fire officials said the soaring temperatures also may have contributed to a Queens fire that killed a mother and daughter.
Still, the climbing temperatures — which had reached 94 degrees in Central Park by 2 p.m. — did not stop throngs of intrepid tourists from braving an impressively suffocating city. With temperatures over 90 degrees by 8 a.m., about 100 firefighters fought the heat and the flames Sunday morning as a blaze tore through a house in Richmond Hill in Queens, killing a mother and her 7-year-old daughter, and critically injuring the woman’s two teenage sons. Fire Department officials said they were investigating whether the fire was linked to the family’s air conditioner, which neighbors said was located on the first floor.
“You get the fresh wind there, blowing through the streets,” said Roeleb Molemaker, 55, a visitor from Holland who was heading to Lower Manhattan with his family. “We can walk slow.” The police said Silvia Umana, 51, lived in the home with her daughter, Lupe Perez, and two sons, whom neighbors identified as Gilbert, 19, and Gabriel, 15. The younger boy escaped out a second-story window and was rescued by firefighters.
Across the city, restaurateurs said they were mainly serving tourists. “They always complained about how hot their house was,” said Tiffany Elahie, 14, a friend of the children who lived a few doors away.
“These tourists just want to come and eat, drink and then be on their way to find a new place to cool down,” said Maria Gonzalez, 26, a waitress at Il Piccolo Bufalo restaurant on Mulberry Street. “So we’ll be open for them.” It was a tragic coda to a sweltering heat wave that began on Friday, with temperatures that hovered consistently in the mid-90s. In some neighborhoods, the heat index was more than a dozen degrees higher.
Ms. Gonzalez said many were even willing to eat at sidewalk tables. New York fire officials said they had expanded emergency service crews in anticipation of a surge in calls, and since Friday had responded to more than 230 heat-related incidents, the majority involving older patients.
“A lot of people still ate outside yesterday in this heat,” she said, hoisting a patio umbrella on Sunday. Across the five boroughs, many New Yorkers stayed inside — and cranked air conditioning. But by Sunday night, Con Edison was reporting more than 17,000 customers were without electricity; most of the power failures were in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gravesend and Park Slope, and Whitestone in Queens.
New York, like much of the country, has been in the grip of a heat wave, pushing officials in the city to declare a state of emergency lasting through the weekend as they fear the worst consequences such weather can bring. Meteorologists have issued extreme heat advisories stretching from the East Coast through the panhandle of Texas and the Midwest. According to its power failure map, Con Edison customers in Gravesend were expected to have power returned by 10 p.m. on Sunday. But in Park Slope and Queens, the company estimated residents could be without power until Monday afternoon.
The temperature in New York was expected to shoot back up to the edge of 100 degrees on Sunday, renewing worries about overburdening the city’s power system and the most vulnerable residents falling victim to the heat. P.S.E.G. Long Island had wrestled with its own power failure Saturday night that left thousands without power in the Rockaways.
In Queens, fire marshals were investigating whether a faulty air conditioner sparked a fire that killed a 51-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter, the Fire Department said. Two teenagers, who neighbors said were the woman’s sons, were taken to the hospital in critical condition. By Sunday night, both companies were asking customers in Brooklyn and Queens to limit the use of electrical appliances.
There were limited power failures in the city on Saturday. Con Edison reported that more than 3,300 customers were without electricity, including about 1,400 in eastern Queens. Thousands of others across the country also lost power. “Because the heat is still so heavy today, if customers could alleviate some of the stress to the system it would help overall,” said Elizabeth Flagler, a P.S.E.G. Long Island spokeswoman.
By Sunday, the Public Service Electric and Gas company was asking its customers to limit power usage in Queens.
New York, like much of the country, has been struggling under intense heat, pushing officials in the city to declare a state of emergency. Meteorologists have issued extreme heat advisories stretching from the East Coast through the panhandle of Texas and the Midwest.
Forecasters said that oppressive heat would continue across the Atlantic Coast, from South Carolina to Maine, with highs reaching into the upper 90s, and humidity that would make it feel well over 100 degrees.Forecasters said that oppressive heat would continue across the Atlantic Coast, from South Carolina to Maine, with highs reaching into the upper 90s, and humidity that would make it feel well over 100 degrees.
Halfway up that Northeast corridor, the heat delayed a commuter Greyhound bus traveling Sunday morning to New York from Boston. Matt Joyal, a passenger, said that customers were stuck waiting on the side of the highway for a replacement bus, which he said they were told would take two to three hours to arrive. Halfway up that Northeast corridor, the heat delayed a Greyhound bus traveling Sunday morning to New York from Boston. Matt Joyal, a passenger, said that customers were stuck waiting on the side of the highway for a replacement bus, which he said they were told would take two to three hours to arrive.
“Get this fixed so we can get on with our lives,” he wrote on Twitter.
Showers and thunderstorms, and with them cooler temperatures, were expected toward the Midwest. In New York, rain — and relief from the heat — was expected on Monday.Showers and thunderstorms, and with them cooler temperatures, were expected toward the Midwest. In New York, rain — and relief from the heat — was expected on Monday.
A handful of New Yorkers did emerge Sunday morning to take advantage of the relatively cooler morning temperatures. In Williamsburg’s McCarren Park, the R Bar Softball Team gathered at 10 a.m. for a slow-pitch game. A handful of New Yorkers did emerge Sunday morning to take advantage of the relatively cooler morning temperatures, with handball and slow-pitch softball games carrying on in Brooklyn Wilfredo Perez, 29, ran ice cubes across his hands in between games at handball courts in Coney Island. “The heat doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Perez said. “It actually makes the ball bounce better.”
“The league is so competitive,” said Ashley Mundy, 33, who trekked from Astoria by subway to play. “We have to get our record up for the playoffs.” As the heat wave stretched into a third day, even law enforcement agencies were losing patience. The New York City Police Department wrote on Twitter that “Sunday has been canceled,” and in Braintree, Mass., the police requested that anyone thinking of committing a crime wait until Monday, when it had cooled down.
Still, Ms. Mundy said, they were considering playing fewer innings if the heat was prohibitive. “We are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday. It is straight up hot as soccer balls out there,” the Braintree Police Department said in a now-viral Facebook post.
Anfernee Berrios, a 23-year-old rapper and songwriter from the Lower East Side, also pushed through the heat for a workout. Dripping with sweat Sunday afternoon, he jumped rope and dipped between workout bars in Lower Manhattan’s Cherry Clinton Park. The city’s Department of Correction said it had received at least 13 heat-related complaints over the weekend. Latima Johnson, a spokeswoman for the department, was unable to say how high temperatures had reached inside the city’s jail facilities.
“In this heat, and when trains get messed up, people get agitated easily,” Mr. Berrios said. “I’m trying to exercise and get my sweat on. It helps me keep a clear head, even in the heat.” The 311 system, however, had received 162 heat-related complaints about the city’s jails, including 94 on Saturday. William Reda, a 311 spokesman, said the system does not track whether calls come from an inmate or a relative.
By the third day with temperatures in the 90s, even law enforcement agencies were losing patience. The New York City Police Department wrote on Twitter that “Sunday has been canceled,” and in Braintree, Mass., the police requested that anyone thinking of committing a crime wait until Monday, when it had cooled down.
“We are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday. It is straight up hot as soccer balls out there,” the Braintree police department said in a now-viral Facebook post.
As part of the city’s response to extreme temperatures, it opened hundreds of cooling centers this weekend, including one at the Jacob A. Riis Settlement House, a community center serving Queensbridge Houses residents in Long Island City. It did not draw a huge crowd, but the people who took advantage of it, like the group assembled for a tenants association meeting, were grateful.As part of the city’s response to extreme temperatures, it opened hundreds of cooling centers this weekend, including one at the Jacob A. Riis Settlement House, a community center serving Queensbridge Houses residents in Long Island City. It did not draw a huge crowd, but the people who took advantage of it, like the group assembled for a tenants association meeting, were grateful.
“Doesn’t it feel delicious?” said April Simpson, the president of Queensbridge Tenants Association. One bodega owner lamented his struggle to keep ice in stock, and said he hadn’t figured out how to keep his water bottles cool.
Bodegas struggled to keep ice around, and refrigerators hardly kept bulk stocks of water bottles cool. “We stocked up on ice again last night, and after two hours today, we ran out,” said Kenny Cheng, 40, who runs a corner shop called James Market in Manhattan’s Chinatown. “People bought it all up.”
“We stocked up on ice again last night, and after two hours today, we ran out,” said Kenny Cheng, 40, who runs a corner shop called James Market in Chinatown. “People bought it all up.” Glimpses of a more innocent New York surfaced as residents without air-conditioning poured into the streets. They queued up in long lines for community swimming pools, played in the water shooting from fire hydrants and sought shade wherever they could find it.
“We have plenty of water,” Mr. Cheng said, pointing to stacks of cases, “But it’s all warm. Our refrigerators won’t even keep them cool.” Dream Harris was among the young opportunists.
Many without air-conditioning poured into the streets on Saturday. They queued up in long lines for community swimming pools, played in the water shooting from fire hydrants and sought shade wherever they could find it. “Ice-cold water! One dollar!” Dream, 7, shouted on Saturday afternoon from the corner of 152nd street and Morningside Avenue in Harlem. Supervised by her mother, she had made $30 in an hour.
Paris Campbell, 50, sat on a stoop on 125th Street in Harlem, smoking a cigarette and listening to soul music. Mr. Campbell works as a janitor in the building, which does not have air-conditioning. “All I can do to deal with the heat is come out here and take a break,” he said. She planned to keep working until she was out of water. At that point, the plan was to dash through the sprinklers in St. Nicholas Park, pick up some more bottles and get back to work.
Dream Harris was among those trying to take advantage of the situation. Rebecca Liebson, Derek Norman, Ashley Southall, Jan Ransom, Rick Rojas, Sean Piccoli and John Surico contributed reporting.
“Ice-cold water! One dollar!” Dream, 7, shouted on Saturday afternoon from the corner of 152nd street and Morningside Avenue in Harlem.
“I don’t mind the heat,” her mother, Monica Harris, said. “New Yorkers always complain about it being too cold. Well, now they got a tropical climate, they should just enjoy it. Besides, it gives me an opportunity to teach my daughter about entrepreneurship.”
In less than an hour, Dream had made nearly $30. She unzipped the pink fanny-pack around her waist, and pointed to a wad of damp singles shoved inside. She planned to keep working until she was out of water. At that point, the plan was to dash through the sprinklers in St. Nicholas Park, pick up some more bottles and get back to work.
“Go on, Baby, you’re letting all your customers get away!” Ms. Harris said, nudging her daughter to chase after someone who walked by without buying a bottle of water.
Rebecca Liebson, Derek Norman, Sean Piccoli and John Surico contributed reporting.