Cool Neighborhoods NYC1
The City of New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resilency
Anthony Shorris, First Deputy Mayor
Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resilency
Anthony Shorris, First Deputy Mayor
The City of New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Anthony Shorris
First Deputy Mayor
Cool
Neighborhoods
NYC
A Comprehensive Approach to Keep
Communities Safe in Extreme Heat
Cool
Neighborhoods
NYC
A Comprehensive Approach to Keep
Communities Safe in Extreme Heat
3Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Table of Contents
Letter from the Mayor
Introduction
Cool Neighborhoods NYC Heat Mitigation Strategies
• Conducting Targeted Street Tree Plantings for Cool Neighborhoods
• Strategically Implementing NYC °CoolRoofs
• Understanding the Role that Cool Pavements Play in Addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect
• Implementing Green Infrastructure and Understanding its Co-Benets
Cool Neighborhoods NYC Heat Adaptation Strategies
• Launching Climate Risk Training for Home Health Aides
• Encouraging New Yorkers to Check on At-Risk Neighbors through Be a Buddy NYC
• Building Partnerships with Health and Weather Reporters for Preventative Messaging
• Advocating for Reforms to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• Working to Improve Ventilation and Ensure Operable Windows in Residential Buildings
• Supporting Improvements to Signage and Programming at Cooling Centers
Cool Neighborhoods NYC Monitoring Strategies
• Collecting Innovative Data to Deliver Inclusive and Health-focused Climate Policy
Looking Forward
Acknowledgements
References
Glossary
5
7
10
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13
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18
20
21
23
25
27
29
31
32
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38
40
43
Cool Neighborhoods NYC4
Letter from
the Mayor
5Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Friends,
Climate change is a growing threat to humanity and our city. New Yorkers understand
this. Rising temperatures continue to threaten the health of all New Yorkers, but
particularly older adults, those without access to air conditioning, and those with a
variety of health conditions. Cool Neighborhoods NYC is an innovative citywide effort to
tackle extreme heat, which contributes to more deaths than all other natural disasters
combined.
When it comes to climate change, it is crucial to have partners at all levels of
government and New Yorkers were shocked when the President pulled out of the Paris
Accord. But we are not discouraged. New York City will continue to do all it can to
preserve a livable planet and a resilient city. Nothing that happens in Washington will
change that.
In June, I signed an Executive Order committing New York City to the Paris Agreement
and we will continue to follow OneNYC, our comprehensive roadmap to a resilient,
sustainable and equitable New York. This report outlines an important part of this work.
Our research on New York’s neighborhoods shows that heat-related health risks are
greatest in certain communities, including those without adequate shade protection
from trees and foliage and those with higher rates of poverty. With Cool Neighborhoods
NYC we are addressing rising temperatures by planting trees, coating roofs with
reective paint, and working with residents to ensure they take proper steps to stay
cool and check on each other.
This approach also complements our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80
percent by 2050. Over the next several years, we will continue to do our part for our
people and our planet and serve as a model to other cities around the world. Anything
less would be unacceptable.
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Cool Neighborhoods NYC6
Introduction
7Cool Neighborhoods NYC
More Americans die from heat waves every year than from all other extreme weather events combined.
1
Further,
according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2016 was the hottest year on record globally, making 2016 the
third consecutive year of record-high global average surface temperatures. These higher average temperatures, growing
urban areas—especially their increasing elderly populations—and projections of more intense, frequent, and longer heat
waves make heat an urgent environmental and health challenge.
2
The New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC)
projects up to a 5.7°F increase in New York City (NYC) average temperatures and a doubling of the number of days above
90°F by the 2050s.
3
Periods of extreme heat have a profound effect on human health, including dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat-stroke,
and mortality. In New York City, specically, extreme heat is the number one cause of mortality from extreme weather.
4
Every year, NYC experiences an average of 450 heat-related emergency department visits, 150 heat-related hospital
admissions, and 13 heat-stroke deaths. The City also averages about 115 excess deaths from natural causes exacerbated
by extreme heat annually.
5
Heat and rising temperatures threaten NYC’s livability -- a threat that will continue to
increase in the absence of strategies to make our city more heat resilient as our climate changes.
6
New York City, like other urban areas, is more vulnerable to heat than rural and suburban areas. Due to the relative
amount of dark, impervious surfaces, limited vegetation, and dense human activity, cities can be up to 22°F hotter than
rural and suburban areas as part of a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE). The UHI effect leads
to higher summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
7
Aside from rising average temperatures and heat waves, the UHI effect also threatens NYC’s livability and quality of life.
Further, within NYC, some areas and communities
may be more at risk than others. Variation in
NYC’s densely built environment—including the
distribution of our sparse vegetation, building
typologies, and surface materials—results in
disparate neighborhood-level heat risks. These
physical risks overlap with social and health
risk factors, resulting in disproportionate effects
borne by the most vulnerable residents of high-
poverty neighborhoods: older adults, those in poor
health, and those who do not have access to air
conditioning. To help identify NYC’s most heat-
vulnerable neighborhoods, Columbia University
and the NYC Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene (DOHMH) developed a Heat Vulnerability
Index (HVI) that combines metrics proven to be
strong indicators of heat risk through validation
with health data and that describes both social and
physical characteristics.
8
(See Figure 3: DOHMH
HVI map).
The development of the HVI informed the mayoral
charge in the City’s OneNYC plan to mitigate heat
citywide, with a targeted response for the most at-
Figure 1: Some NYC communities experience higher temperatures than others.
Variation in NYC’s densely built environment results in disparate neighborhood-
level risks. Source: LANDSAT Thermal Data, 2009.
NYC Thermal Imagery
Cool Neighborhoods NYC8
risk neighborhoods. As a result, the NYC Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency (ORR)
developed Cool Neighborhoods NYC: a new $106 million program designed to help keep
New Yorkers safe during hot weather, mitigate UHI effect drivers and protect against
the worst impacts of rising temperatures from climate change. This comprehensive
approach expands the Administration’s aggressive climate resiliency agenda.
The rst set of strategies outlined in this report highlights the role that the physical
environment plays in driving local temperatures and describes the City’s investments to
increase shade, greenery, and canopy cover and increase high albedo surfaces in public
and private sites to help lower surface and indoor temperatures in NYC neighborhoods
with high vulnerability to heat-related illnesses and mortality. High temperatures also
threaten New Yorkers inside their homes today and will continue to do so in the future
due to climate change. For this reason the Cool Neighborhoods NYC comprehensive
approach also includes adaptation strategies to keep New Yorkers safe during periods of
extreme heat.
The second set of strategies outlined in this report underscores the critical role that
our most trusted messengers can play in helping us adapt to climate change. The nal
strategy outlined in this report describes key efforts to better understand the scope of
the challenge via data collection and monitoring.
The City is committed to delivering health-protective messages and encourage all New
Yorkers—but especially older adults, the homebound, and those with chronic health
conditions—to take action in caring for themselves and one another during extreme
heat days.
Figure 2: More Americans die from heat waves every year than from all other extreme weather events combined.
Source: NOAA National Weather Service, 2016.
U.S. Fatalities by Hazard, 2006-2015
9Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Through climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, the City will reduce its
contributions to rising temperatures, combat the UHI effect, and protect its residents
from extreme heat events. Each program initiative is fully funded or budget neutral and
will launch in 2017, with implementation over the next three years through scal year
2021.
Figure 3: Source: DOHMH, 2015.
The HVI is adapted from a study by
researchers at the NYC Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene and
Columbia University who analyzed
mortality data from 2000 to 2011.
The analysis identied factors that
were associated with an increased
risk of deaths during a heat wave.
The map shows NYC Community
Districts ranked from least to most
vulnerable. Each Community District
HVI is the average of all census
tracts in the Community District.
Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) for New York City Community Districts
Cool Neighborhoods NYC10
Cool
Neighborhoods
NYC
Heat Mitigation
Strategies
11Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Trees and forest vegetation cool directly through shading and indirectly through
evapotranspiration: a process through which water is moved from a plant’s roots to its
leaves where it then evaporates through the small pores on the underside of a leaf.
The liquid water turns to vapor, losing the water molecules’ heat and cooling the plant
and surrounding air.
9
Shaded surfaces may be 20°F to 45°F cooler than unshaded
surfaces; evapotranspiration, either alone or in conjunction with shading, can reduce
peak temperatures by 2°F to 9°F.
10
In addition to outdoor and indoor temperature
reduction via shading and evaporative cooling; street trees and vegetation provide a
number of social and environmental benets. These include reduced enewy use and
related greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, increased biodiversity, enhanced
stormwater management, as well as improved quality of life through aesthetics, improved
mental wellbeing, and noise reduction.
11,12,13
Improving NYC’s resiliency to climate-mediated increases in urban heat will require
signicant and ongoing investments in green and natural infrastructure strategies. In
2007, the City launched its Million TreesNYC program, which planted its millionth new tree
in 2015, two years ahead of schedule, and became a renowned greening model for cities
across the world. To harness the cooling and ancillary benets of urban vegetation, the
City has committed an additional $82 million dollars to fund street tree plantings that
will prioritize areas that are disproportionately vulnerable to heat risks, as shown in the
City’s Heat Vulnerability Index: neighborhoods in the South Bronx, Northern Manhattan,
and Central Brooklyn (see Figure 3). Tree plantings will also be targeted in other areas of
the city with low levels of tree canopy cover and open space; limited shade; and building
and landscape characteristics that contribute to heat stress. This targeted tree planting
is possible based on the City’s highly accurate street tree census completed in 2016
and also based on the work of our academic partners at The New School and the State
University of New York
(SUNY) at Buffalo.
In the coming years the City
will also invest $16 million
to support planting trees
in parks, where we need to
plan for the next generation
of specimen trees as our
largest trees, providing the
greatest environmental
benets, are reaching
maturity. An additional $7
million investment will
support forest restoration
across the ve boroughs--
Figure 4: In addition to temperature reduction via shading and
evaporative cooling; street trees and vegetation provide many social
and environmental benets. Source: OneNYC.
Targeted tree planting
strategy and implementation
conducted by:
NYC Department of Parks
and Recreation
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
Natural Areas
Conservancy
Urban Systems Lab at
The New School
The State University of
New York at Buffalo
Conducting Targeted Street Tree Plantings
for Cool Neighborhoods
Cool Neighborhoods NYC12
where the city’s densest stands exist and are tireless factories of clean air production.
Our tree planting efforts will begin in the fall of 2017 and take place through 2021.
This work would not be possible without the tireless efforts of the staff at the NYC
Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), who manage and maintain our natural
resources. For this reason, additional staff has been funded to help the City and its
partners implement this vision of a resilient and diverse tree canopy and natural habitats
in New York City. This comprehensive and proactive approach is possible thanks to our
partnership with the Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC)--a champion of New York City’s
more than 20,000 acres of forests and wetlands for the benet and enjoyment of all.
Green space is not equitably distributed across the city and some of the most vulnerable
populations may not have adequate access to cool or green spaces where they can escape
high and extreme heat.
14
Linking vulnerable and high-risk populations to strategies for
green infrastructure and other nature-based solutions is critical for increasing equity
and addressing environmental justice in the city. Increasing the city’s street tree canopy
will reduce the UHIE, relieve heat stress in residential neighborhoods, help to improve
air quality, and support the city’s biodiversity by creating additional corridors of greenery
that help connect between larger patches of vegetation, giving local species access to a
greater amount of habitat.
15
Finally, moving forward, the City will continue to partner with
local organizations and communities to support and foster tree stewardship initiatives
and to engage and empower volunteers in our neighborhoods.
Planting trees will help us meet the City’s commitments in OneNYC to “mitigate the
impacts of the urban heat island effect” and green the city’s streets, parks, and open
spaces, while exemplifying how to incorporate a health-based and environmental justice
framework into environmental and natural resource planning and strategy development.
Figure 5: Street trees provide
shade, support biodiversity, and
enhance the quality of life of
New Yorkers. Corner of Post Ave.
and Academy St. in Manhattan.
Source: NYC DPR.
2008
2009
2016
13Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Impervious surfaces, such as asphalt roads and roofs, contribute to the UHI effect by
absorbing and reradiating heat, especially at night.
16
Green roofs or vegetation—covered
roof surfaces—benet property owners in numerous ways. They can improve quality of
life through noise reduction; increase property values; and beautify a property for owners
and neighbors. While their up-front installation costs are high, green roofs reduce energy
and maintenance costs by protecting rooftops and building equipment from excessive
sun exposure during warmer seasons and increase heat retention during cooler seasons.
Given these benets, the City sought to incentivize the implementation of green roofs
as replacements for dark roofs in the city. In 2008, the City of New York and New York
State passed legislation to provide a one-year tax abatement, or tax relief, of $4.50 per
square foot (up to $100,000 or the building’s tax liability, whichever is less). Amended
in 2013, the tax abatement is
now available through March
15, 2018.
17
In addition to action
on green roofs, the City has
also funded and implemented
“cool roofs,” which are lighter
in color and reect heat.
Cool roofs transfer less heat
into buildings and in turn
help reduce building energy
consumption and waste-heat
from air conditioning use.
18
Additionally, due to their
high reectivity, clusters of
light-colored surfaces reduce
ambient air temperatures,
thereby mitigating the UHI
effect.
19
Based on this evidence, in 2009, the City launched NYC °CoolRoofs, a program that set a
goal to coat one million square feet of rooftops each calendar year with white paint. The
City of New York has since invested over $4 million dollars in the NYC CoolRoofs program
and has coated more than 6.7 million square feet of rooftop space to-date, contributing
to lower cooling costs and reducing an estimated 2,680 metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent (tCO2e) emissions in the city (See Figure 7).
The program supports the City’s goal to reduce carbon emissions 80% before 2050
(80x50), as outlined in Mayor de Blasio’s One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just
City. Through this program, the City also provides local job-seekers with ten weeks of
Figure 6: The NYC Cool Roofs program helps thousands of New
Yorkers reduce their energy use and will help address the city’s
urban heat island effect by coating millions of square feet of roof
area. By 2025, this is expected to reduce citywide GHG emissions by
3,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, generate $1 million
in annual energy cost savings, and train 500 New Yorkers who will be
prepared for jobs promoting energy efciency in buildings. Source:
Dana Ullman for UNHP.
°Cool Roof targeted out-
reach, workforce training
and implementation
conducted by:
NYC Department of
Small Business Services
Sustainable South
Bronx (a division of the
HOPE Program).
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
Fordham University
Strategically Implementing NYC °CoolRoofs
Cool Neighborhoods NYC14
traini ng and work experience installing the energy-saving reective rooftops. The City
hires 70 workforce participants per year and connects them to permanent employment
opportunities upon completion of their training. This initiative is a partnership between
the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), the NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Sustainability (MOS), the NYC Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency, and Sustainable
South Bronx, a division of the HOPE Program.
20,21
Cool roof installations are provided at no-cost to non-prots, affordable and supportive
housing organizations, select cooperatively-owned housing, and select organizations
providing public, cultural, and/or community services. Technical assistance and low-cost
installation options are also available for other privately owned buildings. By installing
a cool roof, a building can lower air conditioning costs by 10% to 30%; achieve up to
30% reduction in internal building temperatures during the summer with negligible
impact to heating costs in the winter; increase the longevity of roof and building cooling
equipment; and improve the comfort of building residents and tenants.
While the program has had incredible success, we can better target roof coatings to
the neighborhoods that need it the most. In response, the City, together with Columbia
University, developed a two-year strategic plan to understand how this program could best
contribute to urban heat island mitigation in neighborhoods with high heat vulnerability.
Using the City’s Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI), the study determined geographic areas
of focus, assessed the potential to cluster the implementation of roofs, identied and
prioritized potential program participants, developed outreach and communication
strategies to secure the participation of target building owners, and developed tools to
assist owners in understanding the benets of the program for their own buildings. As a
result, the study identied a priority list of 2.7 million square feet of potential private and
public buildings to conduct strategic outreach to owners in the heat-vulnerable areas of
the Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and Northern Manhattan (See Figure 8). The NYC °CoolRoofs
Strategic Implementation Plan will launch in 2017 to improve the impact of this existing
City program by concentrating $2.6 million dollars’ worth of new projects to mitigating
the UHI effect in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods through scal year 2020.
However, we know we cannot achieve our goals without the help of partners from the
private sector. To put this plan into action, in 2017 Fordham University will partner
with the City on UHI effect mitigation by becoming a participant in the NYC °CoolRoofs
program. Fordham is located in Bronx neighborhoods with high heat vulnerability and
is also a participant in the NYC Carbon Challenge, pledging to voluntarily reduce their
building-based emissions by 30% or more over the course of ten years. Together, we
will coat 6 buildings, resulting in 81,000 square feet of new cool roofs in the Bronx. In
addition, the plan focuses on strategic partnerships and enhanced outreach to a mix
of buildings (publicly and privately owned, and those serving a non-prot, affordable
housing or social service function) to improve public awareness and increase the
program’s visibility—key tactics as the City seeks to deliver inclusive climate action.
Pavement choices can have a signicant impact on pedestrian thermal comfort in urban
areas. Dark-colored asphalt pavements in streets, which can encompass up to 40% of the
15Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Figure 7: The City has coated more than 6.7 million sq. ft. of rooftop space to-date. Source:
Columbia University Master of Science in Sustainability Management Capstone Project, 2016.
Figure 8: The Cool Roofs study identied a priority list of 2.7 million square feet of potential
private and public buildings to conduct strategic outreach to owners in the heat-vulnerable areas
of the Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and Northern Manhattan. Source: Columbia University Master of
Science in Sustainability Management Capstone Project, 2016.
Existing NYC °CoolRoofs
Recommended NYC °CoolRoofs
Cool Neighborhoods NYC16
surface area in cities, contribute to the UHI effect. Similar
to dark roofs, asphalt pavements re-radiate absorbed
heat into the atmosphere, especially at night. In contrast,
“cool pavements” are generally light-colored pavements
with a high albedo (over 0.29) that reect more of the
sun’s radiation than a dark-colored pavement with low
albedo.
22
Newly installed concrete pavement has an
albedo of around 0.35 while fresh asphalt is typically
closer to an albedo of 0.05-0.10.
City simulations, using weather data from several U.S.
cities, have found that reective pavements, when used
in conjunction with cool roofs and shade tree planting,
can lower ambient air temperatures, on average by 4°F
to 9°F.
23,24
Furthermore, it has been posited that cool
pavements with high albedo surfaces can have longer
durability because of their lowered temperatures, and can
decrease stress on street trees, increasing their vitality,
and thus increasing the benets they afford.
25
While many NYC streets are paved with asphalt due to
other environmental and engineering considerations,
fortunately, over 90% of the city’s sidewalks are light
colored. Some NYC sidewalks include permeable
interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) and precast porous
concrete panels which may reduce the UHI effect through
evaporative cooling.
26
Adding trees and ecological
features to sidewalks and streets also contribute to
improved health, as they provide safe and green corridors
where people want to be, walk and exercise.
Finally, vibrant sidewalks can encourage people to support
local businesses with active storefronts and streetscapes
and can promote opportunities for neighborhood
cohesion and interactions and community building.
NYC Greenstreets, green infrastructure projects, planted
public spaces, medians, and trafc islands help with these
environmental and social benets and also help reduce
the UHI effect by promoting evapotranspiration and
increasing reectivity.
Between 2007 and 2016, the NYC Department of
Transportation (DOT) Trafc and Planning team has
converted a substantial portion of the dark asphalt
Figure 9: Cool pavements reect more of the sun’s radiation than a
dark-colored pavement. Sand-colored concrete sidewalk on Prospect
Park West, Brooklyn. Source: NYC DOT.
Figure 10: Adding trees, lighter surfaces and ecological features to
sidewalks and streets also contribute to improved health, as they
provide safe and green corridors where people want to be, walk and
exercise. Prospect Park Bike Lane, Brooklyn. Source: NYC DOT.
Understanding the Role that Cool Pavements Play in
Addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect
17Cool Neighborhoods NYC
curb where street trees, signs, above-ground utilities, and
street furniture are typically located. Through the DOT
Vision Zero Great Streets projects, the City is also adding
close to 360,000 square feet of new planted space across
Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
This increases the permeable area within projects and
reduces the overall coverage of heat-absorbing asphalt
and/or concrete. As the DOT Capital program’s Pedestrian
Safety and School Safety projects, Vision Zero Great Streets
projects, greenway projects, and similar efforts grow, the
City will continue to convert more and more dark asphalt
roadway to lighter concrete and planted spaces.
Aside from light-colored concrete sidewalks and pilot
programs of other reective and permeable pavements,
real-world, empirically-backed studies specic to
UHI effect mitigation are lacking and the large-scale
application of cool pavements has no urban precedent.
Because of this, the safety, durability, longevity, and
upkeep maintenance costs for implementation are
relatively unknown and will be a challenge as the City
leads this innovative effort.
27
Increasing the reectivity, porosity, and planted
groundcover of the city’s pavement surfaces have the
potential to be important tools that the City can use
to mitigate the UHI effect. Going forward, the City will
assess the feasibility of increasing cool and permeable
surfaces in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods and will
continue to determine interventions that make sense for
certain typologies (plazas, playgrounds, parking lots, low-
trafc roads, etc.).
Figure 11: The City will continue to convert more and more dark asphalt
roadway to lighter concrete and planted spaces. Junior High School 185,
Flushing, Queens. Source: NYC DEP.
roadbed (over 3 million square feet) to lighter-colored
and/or planted spaces.
In addition, DOT works with the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) on permeable or
porous pavements to facilitate stormwater management
where appropriate. Permeable, or porous pavements
cool via evapotranspiration from water and air passing
through the pavement. DOT is updating their Street
Design Manual that will encourage the continued use
of permeable pavements, where appropriate, by private
entities.
The Public Design Commission has also approved the use
of permeable pavers in the furnishing zone of sidewalks
citywide by private entities. The furnishing zone is the
area of the sidewalk that is immediately adjacent to the
Assessment of UHI effect mitigation opportunities in
heat-vulnerable neighborhoods will be conducted by:
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Department of Transportation
NYC Department of City Planning
NYC Department of Environmental Protection
Cool Neighborhoods NYC18
Since 2011, the NYC Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) has been implementing green
infrastructure (GI) practices in combined sewer areas
citywide in an effort to manage stormwater. To-date,
NYC DEP has installed thousands of green infrastructure
practices in the public right-of-way (ROW), replacing
sections of sidewalk with rain gardens that include a mix
of trees, owers, shrubs and grasses. NYC DEP also works
with partner agencies and non-prot organizations to
retrot public properties with larger green infrastructure
practices. NYC DEP is also incentivizing green
infrastructure retrots on private property through the
Green Infrastructure Grant Program.
NYC DEP continues to progress in development of its
Green Infrastructure Program as part of a $1.5 billion by
2030 commitment. As of March 2017, the Program had
encumbered over $410 million with another $1 billion
budgeted over the next 10 years for thousands more GI
practices including rain gardens, permeable pavement,
and subsurface storage.
28,29
Many of the combined sewer areas that have received
or will receive green infrastructure are also in HVI
neighborhoods, including central Brooklyn, areas of
the south Bronx, and areas of northwest and southeast
Queens (See Figure 13). Although the primary goal of the
GI Program is to capture stormwater, GI has co-benets
beyond stormwater capture. These co-benets include
how rain gardens and green roofs mitigate the UHI effect
through added shade and evapotranspiration. NYC DEP
has been working on research and development efforts
to understand co-benets of green infrastructure. NYC
DEP will continue data collection efforts to investigate
the co-benets of widespread green infrastructure
implementation.
Figure 12: Green Infrastructure has
co-benets beyond stormwater
capture, including creating urban
habitat and mitigating the UHI
effect through added shade and
evapotranspiration. Bioswales,
Brooklyn. Source: NYC DEP.
Green Infrastructure
implementation led by
NYC DEP in partnership
with:
NYC Department of
Parks and Recreation
NYC Department of
Transportation
NYC Department of
Education
NYC Department
of Design and
Construction
NYC Economic
Development
Corporation
NYC Department
of Design and
Construction
NYC Housing Authority
School Construction
Authority
The Trust for Public
Land
Implementing Green Infrastructure and Understanding
its Co-Benets
19Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Figure 13: NYC DEP has installed thousands of green infrastructure practices in the public right-of-way replacing sections
of sidewalk with rain gardens. Many of the combined sewer areas that have received or will receive green infrastructure are
also in HVI neighborhoods. Source: NYC DEP, 2017.
Green Infrastructure Program Area-Wide Contracts
Cool Neighborhoods NYC20
Cool
Neighborhoods
NYC
Heat Adaptation
Strategies
21Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Launching Climate Risk Training for Home
Health Aides
Hot and humid summer weather can cause heat illness and even death. In New York
City, DOHMH examined death records from 2008-2011 and found that about 85% of NYC
heat-stroke deaths happened after exposure to heat inside the home. Many victims were
exposed to heat inside homes that lacked access to or did not use air conditioning.
30,31
Older adults, those who are obese, those with chronic medical conditions or mental
health conditions, those who abuse drugs or alcohol, and certain other groups are most
vulnerable. Those who are socially isolated or homebound are also at risk. There are place-
based risk factors such as poor access to public transportation or cooling centers.
32,33,34
Cooling centers are open across the city during serious heat waves. However, published
studies and City data suggest that many New Yorkers, including those most vulnerable
to heat illness, prefer to stay at home during hot weather even if they cannot stay cool
there, instead of visiting a cool place like a library, a friend’s home with air conditioning,
or a city cooling center.
35
Remaining in their homes is dangerous for their health.
Due to current and future risks in light of our changing climate, the City needs strategies
to reach heat-vulnerable populations inside their homes. Studies show that indoor
home temperatures can be 20°F higher than outdoor temperatures in the absence of air
conditioning, and that indoor exposures to heat exceed the comfort range among elderly
occupants.
36
As outlined in OneNYC, the City assessed the feasibility of establishing a citywide
maximum allowable indoor temperature in residential facilities and supportive housing
for vulnerable populations.
37
Interviews with providers, survey feedback from community
members, and brainstorming with sister cities facing similar climate risks revealed that the
establishment of a maximum indoor temperature would pose signicant challenges and
requires further examination.
Nevertheless, Home Health
Aides (HHAs) play a critical
role in protecting our city’s
most vulnerable residents
by providing critical health
services inside their homes
and are important partners in
the City’s efforts to protect at-
risk New Yorkers.
Figure 14: Home Health Aides can communicate climate-related health
risks and promote protective measures inside the home. Source: Stock
Photo.
Planning and
development of Home
Health Aide climate
and heat risk training
conducted by:
New York Alliance for
Careers in Healthcare
at NYC Department of
Small Business Services
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Emergency
Management
Sunnyside Community
Services
Allen Health Care
Services
Best Choice Home
Health Care, A Member
of the Centerlight
Health System
Cool Neighborhoods NYC22
Due to established relationships between aides and clients, HHAs can be trusted
messengers in communicating health risks and promoting protective measures inside
the home.
Starting in 2017, the City will partner with homecare agencies to promote heat-health
messages to New Yorkers and engage HHAs as key players in building climate resiliency.
To this end, the City developed a heat-health module for continuing education trainers
that will be offered as part of the standard curriculum by three key homecare employers.
Through these employers, our continuing education curriculum aims to reach nearly
8,000 HHAs, who will be trained to identify clients that are at highest risk, understand
that medicines can affect the body’s ability to respond to heat, and understand ways to
prevent heat-related illness and death. Most importantly, HHAs will learn to identify
barriers that prevent their clients from staying cool and can connect the most vulnerable
New Yorkers to the array of services offered by City government.
Offering this training on an ongoing basis will also build a much-needed knowledge
base in our communities as HHAs will have a better understanding of climate risks and
can act on that knowledge to protect their own families, friends and neighbors during
periods of very hot weather.
Figure 15: During the heat-health module, HHAs will learn to identify barriers that prevent
their clients from staying cool and can connect them to the array of services offered by
City government. Source: NYC SBS.
23Cool Neighborhoods NYC
A key challenge in preparing for extreme weather emergencies is their relative
unpredictability. To protect New Yorkers in the future, lessons can be learned from
strategies tested and evaluated from more common climate emergencies such as heat
waves. A heat emergency is not the time to identify vulnerable residents. Rather, it is
important to build social networks that can help share life-saving information prior
to such an emergency, and can reach out to at-risk neighbors during an extreme heat
event. Studies have shown that enhanced social cohesion better prepares communities
to withstand natural disasters and their health impacts.
38
The City is investing $930,000 to launch Be a Buddy NYC to create a community-led
preparedness model that promotes social cohesion. This health-based initiative is a
two-year pilot that will promote community resiliency to extreme heat and other
weather emergencies in key heat-vulnerable communities (See Figure 16). South Bronx
neighborhoods, including Highbridge-Morrisania, Crotonia-Tremont, and Hunts Point-
Mott Haven, have among the highest rates of heat illness and death in NYC. Central
Brooklyn and Central and East Harlem are also highly vulnerable to heat impacts. The
City’s Neighborhood Health Action Centers will serve as incubators for community
preparedness.
Development and
implementation of
Be a Buddy NYC is a
partnership between:
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Emergency
Management
Figure 16: Be a Buddy NYC is a two-year pilot that will promote community resiliency to extreme heat and
other weather emergencies in key heat-vulnerable communities. Source: NYC DOHMH, 2015.
Encouraging New Yorkers to Check on At-Risk
Neighbors through Be a Buddy NYC
Cool Neighborhoods NYC24
Be a Buddy NYC is an interagency partnership to address heat-related health impacts
by enhancing the response capacity, climate preparedness and communication tools
of local community-based organizations, while increasing neighborhood volunteerism
through the creation of buddy systems. The City will work with each neighborhood to
foster buddy systems between social service and community organizations, volunteers,
and vulnerable New Yorkers, to be deployed during emergencies to conduct telephone
and, if necessary, door-to-door and building level checks on vulnerable individuals.
Over the next two years Be a Buddy NYC will implement protective measures against heat-
related illnesses by: (1) training community organizations and volunteers on emergency
protective measures and ways to assist vulnerable adults; and (2) engaging communities
to identify alternative neighborhood resources for staying cool and to communicate
protective health messages to hard-to-reach populations via trusted messengers. Be a
Buddy NYC leverages and models other citywide initiatives including Age-Friendly NYC,
Community Emergency Response Teams, NYC Service, and the Neighborhood Health
Action Centers.
Figure 17: Resident door
knocking at Queensbridge
Houses. The City will work with
neighborhoods to foster buddy
systems between community
organizations, and vulnerable
New Yorkers. Source: Edwin J.
Torres/Mayoral Photography
Ofce.
25Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Studies show that residents of the United States may not always perceive climate change
as a health threat, despite the fact that
several risks, including an increased
likelihood of heat stroke due to rising
temperatures and higher frequency
and intensity of heatwaves, are well
understood and documented.
39
For
this reason, articulating the health
impacts of extreme weather events
accurately and effectively to the
communities that are most affected
is crucial. In New York City, most heat-
related fatalities occur from exposure
to heat in homes without working
air conditioning, and the victims are
often older adults and people with
chronic health conditions or other health or place-based risk factors. A citywide survey
conducted in 2011 found that among older adults, and adults aged 18-64 who reported
being in poor or fair health and who did not own or rarely used air conditioning, almost
50% stayed home during hot weather and 30% were unaware of heat warnings. Focus
groups conducted in 2012 found that older adults who participated did not perceive
themselves to be at risk during very hot weather, and did not consider air conditioning
use as an important preventive measure.
After learning this key health message, they noted that the importance of air conditioning
use was missing from local news clips shown to the group about extreme heat. Rather
than portraying older adults and potentially dangerous indoor environments, T.V. images
and voiceovers broadcasted during extreme heat days tended to portray children and
younger adults in outdoor locations.
40
In short, current media coverage of extreme heat
may not effectively convey heat risk to the city’s most vulnerable residents or focus
on indoor exposure. Focus group participants also said that meteorologists and health
reporters are trusted sources of heat-health information. Hence, reporters are in a
powerful position to communicate accurate and life-saving heat-related information to
New Yorkers. Both traditional and social media can play a strong role in promoting health
and safety during heat emergencies. Collaboration between the City and broadcast
media can increase awareness, clarify populations most at risk, and amplify the reach of
public health messages.
Figure 18: Images of outdoor environments, such as beaches,
are typically used by the media during extreme heat events.
Most heat-related fatalities, however, occur indoors. Source:
Orchard Beach in the Bronx. Michael Appleton/Mayoral
Photography Ofce.
Planning and
implementation of
heat-health outreach
conducted by:
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Emergency
Management
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
Building Partnerships with Health and Weather
Reporters for Preventative Messaging
Cool Neighborhoods NYC26
To ensure that New Yorkers receive information about extreme heat and the protective actions
they need to take, the City will engage health and medical reporters and meteorologists
over the next year to provide information on the health impacts of heat and tips on what
individuals, particularly those most vulnerable and their caregivers and social contacts, need
to know to stay safe. DOHMH will also post information about heat disparities in NYC’s
neighborhoods, including a Heat Vulnerability Index and information about air conditioning
prevalence by neighborhood, on its website.
Figure 19: T.V. images and voiceovers broadcasted during extreme heat days tend to portray children and
younger adults in outdoor locations rather than portraying older adults and potentially dangerous indoor
environments. Source: NYC DEP.
27Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Air conditioning is the most effective and important way to protect at-risk individuals
on hot days and to keep them from experiencing heat-related illnesses. In NYC, a
critical climate adaptation strategy is to ensure that vulnerable populations have
access to air conditioning during extreme heat days. However, cost is a barrier for low-
income populations, making access to air conditioning a serious health-equity issue.
New Yorkers can obtain some nancial relief through the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services and provides subsidies to low-income households to assist in paying for
heating and cooling needs. In 2016 alone, the LIHEAP program distributed over 700,000
heating and cooling grants ($37.5 million) in NYC. LIHEAP’s cooling assistance, however,
is extremely limited in New York State because the majority of the funding is allocated in
the winter months to help meet the heating needs of low-income New Yorkers.
In New York State, 65% of LIHEAP funding is allocated to heating assistance, while only
1% is allocated for cooling assistance (with the remainder going to fund crisis assistance,
weatherization, and administration costs).
41
When LIHEAP is available for cooling, the
assistance applies solely for the purchase and installation of an air conditioning unit for
low-income residents with a documented medical need, but the assistance grant cannot
be used to offset prohibitive utility costs.
Low-income individuals, particularly those unable to purchase or pay to run air
conditioning during very hot weather, are at increased risk for heat illness. In 2014,
94% of NYC households in low-poverty neighborhoods had access to home air
conditioning, compared with only 82% in high-poverty neighborhoods. Only 70% of
households in Brownsville, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, had air conditioning
coverage compared to 99% of households in South Shore, one of the city’s wealthiest
neighborhoods.
42
Support of changes in
LIHEAP distribution and
increased funding will be
conducted by:
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
NYC Human Resources
Administration
Advocating for Reforms to the Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Cool Neighborhoods NYC28
Two surveys of NYC residents found that the primary reason New Yorkers cite for not
owning an air conditioner is cost.
43,44
Even when people own air conditioning, they
may not run it during hot
weather because of utility
cost concerns.
45
Many
New Yorkers do not realize
that setting their air
conditioner at 78°F or “low
cool” on a hot summer day
is the best way to stay safe
and comfortable, while
saving money on their
energy bill. Fans alone
do not keep at-risk people
cool during extremely hot
days. In fact, improper use
of fans, such as using them
when all the windows are
closed, can be dangerous
to health.
By providing air conditioners and offsetting utility costs, LIHEAP has the potential to
reduce heat-related risks for a large number of vulnerable New Yorkers. In its current
state, the program is greatly underfunded when it comes to cooling funds and is
ineffective at meeting the needs of the most heat-vulnerable communities.
In response, the City will work with health departments and other stakeholders across
New York State to support an expansion of LIHEAP to assist qualied households in
paying utility bills related to the operation of air conditioners. The City will also continue
its advocacy for adequate LIHEAP funding at the federal level. As our climate continues
to warm, expansion of the LIHEAP cooling assistance component is vitally needed to
protect vulnerable New Yorkers from both current and future health risks.
Figure 20: Air conditioning is the most effective and important way to
protect at-risk individuals on hot days and prevent heat-related illnesses.
Source: NYCEM.
29Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Beyond individual vulnerability, the condition of urban microclimates, inuenced by
the built environment, affects health risk.
46, 47, 48
Multifamily buildings in urban areas
are particularly vulnerable due to their building age, construction materials, insulation,
roof and wall colors, window orientation, apartment conguration, and lack of operable
windows.
49
Studies have found that these and other building characteristics, including
a lack of central air conditioning systems, low building height, and those made with
exterior building construction consisting of asphalt and wood siding have high heat
sensitivity to outdoor temperatures and solar radiation.
50
The City continues to explore potential building-level interventions to alleviate hot
weather conditions in New Yorkers’ homes. While air conditioning is the optimal solution
for alleviating risks for vulnerable populations, particularly during a heat wave, some
city buildings may not be able to accommodate the electrical loads required to provide
cooling to all units that need it, depending on the age and condition of a building’s
wiring.
Operable windows that enable natural ventilation and passive cooling without electricity,
can provide relief when outdoor temperatures are moderate and are especially important
for ventilation during power outages.
51
Operable windows can be an efcient way to
provide fresh air and can substantially reduce energy use, especially during spring and
fall when local temperature and humidity are lower. In homes where air conditioning
is not used or not available, operable windows can be a New Yorker’s main source of
temperature control.
52
Historically, windows have provided passive ventilation around the world. NYC passed
crucial legislation in 1901 to ensure that all apartments had access to fresh air and
natural light. With this increased ventilation came risk of children falling from windows,
so the City created a
rule that has prevented
hundreds of child
deaths. Owners,
including landlords, are
required in apartments
with a child younger
than 11 years to either
properly install window
guards or place a stop
to prevent windows
from opening beyond
Strategy development
and outreach to
maximize safe natural
ventilation through
windows will be
conducted by:
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
NYC Department of
Buildings
Figure 21: Operable windows can be an efcient way to provide fresh air and
can substantially reduce energy use. Source: DTFA.
Working to Improve Ventilation and Ensure Operable
Windows in Residential Buildings
Cool Neighborhoods NYC30
4.5 inches.
53
Although tenants or owners of apartments without children younger than
11 may request the removal of guards or stops, some may not due to landlord concerns
about legal liability or lack of awareness about the law’s requirements.
In response, the City will engage relevant stakeholders to educate on the policy that
protects young children from falls, while pursuing strategies for better compliance with
the code to maximize safe window usage for passive ventilation in homes. Possible
approaches may include discussions with architects and contractors about new and
renovation window designs that meet requirements without being overly restrictive and
posting information that educates tenants and landlords on the rules to promote the
removal of window guards or stops when safe to do so.
31Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Supporting Improvements to Signage and Programming
at Cooling Centers
During heat emergencies, NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) deploys a multi-
agency response to protect public health, including communication strategies around
staying safe during heat waves and publicizing the opening of hundreds of cooling
centers in order to provide respite from the summer heat. Cooling centers are air-
conditioned spaces that are open to the public for free and become activated during
heat emergencies in NYC. Typically, the facilities designated as cooling centers already
serve as community spaces and include senior centers, community rooms in public
housing buildings, and public libraries. Cooling centers serve New Yorkers that do
not have access to an air conditioner to help prevent heat-related illness or death.
Many of them operate with extended hours to protect at-risk individuals on very hot
days. However, the majority of these spaces are not owned, maintained, or operated by City government. While cooling
centers are publicized through media, public messaging and 311, the City is drastically limited in its ability to implement
any potential capital improvements of these spaces. The facilities volunteer to serve as cooling centers, and physical
inspections and upgrades to the buildings in which the facilities operate are outside of the City’s purview during each
heat emergency.
The City makes efforts to ensure that enough cooling centers are open citywide to meet demand. Nevertheless, published
research shows that many New Yorkers do not want to leave their homes to attend cooling centers even when it is
dangerously hot inside their own apartments. This is why we are using a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the issue,
using Home Health Aides training and Be a Buddy NYC to target New Yorkers that choose to stay in their homes, as well
as increasing the visibility of cooling centers so that they can continue to be a resource for New Yorkers who need them.
To this end, NYCEM will invest in improved signage so that the location of cooling centers will be more accessible to
vulnerable New Yorkers. Signage improvements will launch in summer of 2017. Each cooling center will display a 24”
x 36” vinyl sign at their main entrance to notify the community that the facility is being used as a cooling center during
heat emergencies. The cooling center nder on the NYCEM website will also be updated
to be responsive to screen size on mobile devices.
Through its Age-Friendly NYC initiative, the City is working to foster opportunities for
older New Yorkers to live healthier and more socially connected lives. In 2017, NYCEM
launched the Community Emergency Planning Toolkit, which included outreach to aging
service providers throughout New York City. Starting in summer 2017, the Department
for the Aging (DFTA) in partnership with NYCEM and DOHMH will launch an extreme
heat awareness campaign.
The campaign will center on local outreach and print ads that feature older adults and
will highlight heat safety tips. In addition, DFTA, in their 2017 Age Friendly NYC report,
included recommendations to ensure that senior center participants have information on
services available during extreme heat events, access to the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program, and ways to protect themselves during the summer season.
Implementing improved
signage and coordination
with cooling centers will
be conducted by:
NYC Emergency
Management
NYC Department for the
Aging
Figure 22: The Community
Emergency Planning Toolkit is
a New York City-specic guide
for emergency planning. Source:
NYCEM
Cool Neighborhoods NYC32
Cool
Neighborhoods
NYC Monitoring
Strategies
33Cool Neighborhoods NYC
The spatial variation within New York City’s densely built environment—including the
distribution of its vegetation, varied building and other land cover typologies, and
surface materials—results in differentiated heat risk at the local level. Studies have
shown that certain landscape classes are key drivers of surface temperature in cities.
54
When certain landscape classes are compared with geographic patterns of social
risk, they often overlap with disadvantaged neighborhoods. As a result, the effects of
extreme heat are disproportionately borne by many of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
Temperature monitoring is a crucial component of effectively targeting heat mitigation
and adaptation strategies around the city.
To better understand the geography of NYC’s microclimates and differentiated
vulnerability, the City is investing $300,000 to collect baseline neighborhood-level
temperature information. This will be used to assess current risk, more effectively target
new initiatives in the most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods, and in the long-term, provide
baseline data to accurately measure the impact of interventions. Over the next two
years, this data collection and analysis will empower the City to inform and target future
capital investments in natural infrastructure; to identify operational and policy strategies
that address and adapt NYC to the increasing impacts of UHI effect and extreme heat.
Finally, this work will allow us to identify the need for additional monitoring and research
initiatives that can improve our knowledge of temperature variation and model the
effectiveness of needed interventions.
The City is also engaged in the ve-year, ten-city, National Science Foundation funded
Urban Resilience to Weather-related Extreme Events Sustainability Research Network
(URExSRN). The UREx Project integrates social, ecological and technical systems
to support urban decision-making in the face of climate change.
55
This research
includes scenario modeling projections for spatial variability in heat and heat risk and
vulnerability as well as examining how green infrastructure and other interventions may
impact exposure to heat in NYC. Scenario modeling includes linking downscaled US
Census data with the City’s tax lot assessment, land cover, and other land use data to
examine heat and heat impacts at lot level resolution for NYC. The City’s new high
resolution temperature monitoring described above can serve to ground-truth these
model scenarios and suggest renements.
The City has also invested $1.72M to collect updated LiDAR data for NYC. LiDAR is
mapping technology that determines distance to an object or surface using laser pulses
to measure elevation, allowing the creation of three-dimensional topographic maps and
highly accurate surveys of surface terrain, vegetation and manmade structures. The City
is developing several data sets including land cover, tree canopy and other vegetation,
elevation data to map coastal ood hazards, and all types of impervious surfaces.
These data sets, which will be made publicly available in 2018, will help identify areas
Data collection, research
and monitoring
conducted or overseen
by:
NYC Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Department of
Health and Mental
Hygiene
NYC Department of
Parks and Recreation
City College of New York
Urban Systems Lab at
The New School
Collecting Innovative Data to Deliver Inclusive and
Health-focused Climate Policy
Cool Neighborhoods NYC34
of the city that can benet from prioritized tree plantings and additional greening and
impervious surface removal in order to protect from climate change threats such as the
UHI effect and extreme heat. LiDAR data will also help the City to assess ecosystem
conditions and opportunities for forest restoration and green infrastructure planning. In
all, the landscape of the city has changed since we last collected LiDAR data in 2010 due
to many natural events and human interventions, and the new data will help to inform
our understanding and investment in the city’s resiliency and sustainability.
The City is also collaborating with researchers at the City College of New York (CUNY) to
install a high-density hydro-meteorological weather network around the city. This one of
the kind network will monitor basic meteorological and hydrological variables to assess
the variability in NYC’s microclimates and their response to extreme events. The network
will deliver real time observations of temperature, humidity and rainfall, which can be
used to create an early warning system during heatwaves and ooding. The network will
also be used to improve city-scale climate modeling that can be used to study how future
climate scenarios will impact different neighborhoods within the city. The framework
will be an effective platform to assess the impact of various climate moderation and
extreme heat mitigation strategies.
The CUNY Center for Remote Sensing and Technology Institute is developing state-of-
the-art citywide high-resolution weather research and a forecasting tool. The tool will
use the high resolution LiDAR data that the City will make available to represent the
complex morphology of NYC and will ingest data from the weather networks around the
city to create neighborhood scale weather forecast. In contrast to the current forecast
Figure 23: The LiDAR data being captured will be among the most accurate ever collected for a municipality
since our 2010 capture, providing numerous government agencies with critical information. LiDAR point cloud
data of Central Park. Source: OneNYC
35Cool Neighborhoods NYC
produced by the National Weather Service, the improved tool will have representation for
various urban processes. For example, the tool can quantify the impact of heat released
from buildings’ air-conditioning systems. The forecasting platform will aid several
weather and climate-related critical operational activities. The tool is currently used
to dynamically downscale future climate scenarios projected by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for New York City.
Innovative data collection is essential in climate adaptation planning. At its core, the
City’s research and modeling efforts with academic partners can be used to communicate
more effectively with affected communities so that the linkages between increased
vegetation, lighter surfaces and social adaptation strategies are understood by all New
Yorkers, leading to temperature reduction and positive social outcomes including:
community preparedness and stewardship, energy savings, increased economic activity,
increased productivity, improved health and safety and enhanced quality of life.
Cool Neighborhoods NYC36
Looking Forward
37Cool Neighborhoods NYC
For years, the City has confronted the issue of heat-vulnerability head-on by developing
and implementing multi-agency programs. These include heat emergency response
plans, conducting enhanced surveillance after the 2006 heat waves, working with the
National Weather Service to update heat product public warning language for NYC,
coordinating the opening of cooling centers, issuing safety alerts and advance warnings
for special needs populations and their service providers, and launching programs such
as the Fire Department’s spray cap program, which allows New Yorkers to safely use re
hydrants to stay cool during hot weather.
Still, there is work to be done and through OneNYC, the Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and
Resiliency is leading this effort. Moving forward, the City will assess the feasibility
of incorporating a heat vulnerability assessment in the New York City Environmental
Quality Review (CEQR) Technical Manual, which is the city’s guidance document for
environmental review. In addition, it is crucial to continue to increase tree canopy cover
in the city and to that end we will continue to fulll our commitments for tree planting
and stewardship funding, and will explore the feasibility of lowering the minimum
distance required between trees along sidewalks in order to maximize shading. Finally,
we will assess opportunities to maximize vegetation within open parking and other
areas. Our central strategy has been to leverage key NYC assets: our robust public health,
emergency response and parks infrastructure, local climate risk projections, existing
cross-sector agency programs, and the research and support of our local academic
institutions and community-based organizations. We have worked with practitioners,
academics, and colleagues in other cities and states across the U.S. and abroad to identify
adaptation strategies and health-based interventions, to get up-to-date information on
the implementation status of their own climate initiatives and to solicit feedback on our
approaches.
As much as possible, our strategies to adapt to climate change have built upon existing
programs and have integrated our City staff and partners to advance program goals. We
have worked to strengthen collaboration with agencies and organizations that provide
and promote access to essential services; including those involved in the prevention of
environmental exposures, the planning and monitoring of community health, and the
planning of emergency preparedness and response plans. Cool Neighborhoods NYC moves
us towards a ner-grained neighborhoods-based analysis that will lead to improved
quality of life for all New Yorkers and deliver inclusive climate action that protects public
health and addresses environmental justice. By greening neighborhoods and increasing
access to air conditioning and cool spaces, we aim to reduce heat-related health impacts,
and reduce disparities in vulnerability to climate change.
Our Cool Neighborhoods NYC heat mitigation and adaptation program is a multi-pronged,
comprehensive strategy that will deliver sustainability and resiliency benets to all New
Yorkers, but especially to those who are most vulnerable to heat-related health risks.
Together, we are building community resiliency by continuously expanding interventions
known to prevent illness and death from climate-related hazards and by continuously
enhancing risk communication strategies for vulnerable New Yorkers.
Cool Neighborhoods NYC38
Acknowledgements
Cool Neighborhoods NYC was created with the shared vision of delivering inclusive climate action and sustainability and resiliency
benets to all New Yorkers, but especially to those who are most vulnerable to heat-related health risks. This multi-pronged,
comprehensive strategy will help to reduce heat-related health impacts and deaths, mitigate high temperatures in heat-vulnerable
neighborhoods, strengthen social networks, and improve quality of life for all New Yorkers. This program is a result of an incredibly
collaborative process that was made possible by the hard work and dedication of numerous individuals who believed in this vision
and shared their experience, analysis, ideas, insight, energy, time, and passion.
Program Development Team and Report Editors
New York City Mayor’s Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency
Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Deputy Director, Social and Economic Resiliency
Anna Colarusso, Urban Fellow
Daniella Henry, Policy Advisor
Hyunjin Kim, Program Manager
Erika Lindsey, Senior Policy Advisor
Thank you to each member of the Urban Heat Island Mitigation Working Group, with special thanks to
Bram Gunther, Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR); Sarah Johnson and Munerah Ahmed, Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene (DOHMH); Ahmed Chaudry, Department of Small Business Services (SBS); Kurt Shickman, Global Cool Cities Alliance;
Laurie Kerr, Urban Green Council; Timon McPhearson, Urban Systems Lab at The New School.
Special Collaborators
Jennifer Greenfeld and Kristen King (DPR); Kelly Dougherty, Abby Marquand, and Amy Furman (SBS); Kathryn Lane, Kazuhiko Ito,
Kristin Woods (DOHMH); Erin Cuddihy and Wendy Feuer (DOT); Esther Bruner (OEC); Zachary Youngerman and Miki Urisaka (DEP);
Christopher Pagnotta (NYCEM); Zoe Hamstead (SUNY at Buffalo); Prathap Ramamurthy (CCNY); Alex Schneider (Sustainable South
Bronx); Sarah Charlop-Powers (Natural Areas Conservancy); Daniel Aldrich (Northeastern University); Fall 2016 Capstone Project,
Master of Science in Sustainability Management Program, Columbia University.
Ofce of the Mayor
Anthony Shorris, First Deputy Mayor
Benjamin Furnas, Special Advisor for Policy and Planning, Ofce of the First Deputy Mayor
Dan Zarrilli, Senior Director; Climate Policy and Programs
Jainey Bavishi, Director, Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency
Michael Shaikh, Deputy Director, External Affairs, Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency
Susanne DesRoches, Deputy Director, Infrastructure, Ofce of Recovery and Resiliency
The incredibly hardworking staffs at the following City agencies:
Department of Buildings, Department of City Planning,
Department of Design and Construction, Department of
Environmental Protection, NYC Emergency Management,
Department of Small Business Services, Department of
Transportation, New York City Housing Authority, Ofce of
Management and Budget, Mayor’s Ofce of Operations, NYC
Service, Mayor’s Ofce of Stainability, and the Mayor’s Ofce of
Recovery and Resiliency.
Volunteers on the roof of Noll Street Apartments. The Ridgewood
Bushwick Senior Citizen’s Council, Brooklyn. September 2016. Source:
Alex Schneider, SSBx a division of the HOPE Program.
39Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Endnotes
1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
(2016). Climate Change and Extreme Heat What You Can Do To Prepare. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/
climateandhealth/pubs/extreme-heat-guidebook.pdf.
2. Berko, J., Ingram, D.D., Saha, S., Parker, J.D. (2014). Deaths attributed to heat, cold, and other weather events in the
United States, 2006-2010. National Health Stat Report (76): 1-15.
3. Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. NYC Panel on Climate Change. (NPCC). (2015). Building the Knowledge Base for Climate
Resiliency: NYC Panel on Climate Change 2015 Report. New York Academy of Science 1336: 1–149. Available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12653/full.
4. NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). (2014). Epi Data Brief, No. 47. Available at: https://
www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief47.pdf.
5. Matte, T.D., Lane, K., Ito, K. Excess Mortality Attributable to Extreme Heat in New York City, 1997-2013. (2016).
Health Security. 14(2): 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2015.0059.
6. Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. NYC Panel on Climate Change. (NPCC). (2015). Building the Knowledge Base for Climate
Resiliency: NYC Panel on Climate Change 2015 Report. New York Academy of Science 1336: 1–149. Available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12653/full.
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies, Trees and
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43Cool Neighborhoods NYC
Glossary
Albedo: reective power. A ratio of reected to incident sunlight. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 1: the higher the
number, the higher the albedo (solar reectance).
Ambient Air Temperature: the overall temperature of the outdoor air. It does not take into account the relative humidity
of air (as apparent temperature does) or wind conditions.
Cool Pavements: paving materials that reect more solar energy, enhance water evaporation, or have been otherwise
modied to remain cooler than conventional or asphalt pavements. They include high albedo pavements and coatings,
vegetative surfaces (grass pavers), and porous pavements that allow water inltration.
Evapotranspiration: loss of water from the soil both by evaporation and by transpiration from plants. The process
through which water is moved from a plant’s roots to its leaves where it then evaporates through stomata (small pores
on the underside of a leaf). The liquid water turns to vapor, losing the water molecules’ heat and cooling the plant and
surrounding air.
Green Infrastructure: the array of man-made practices that use or mimic natural systems to manage and control urban
stormwater runoff such as bioswales, rain gardens, and green roofs. Water is either directed to engineered systems for
inltration or detained at a slower rate before it enters the combined sewer system. In addition to water quality benets,
green infrastructure also produces a host of co-benets including beautication and heat mitigation.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The international body for assessing the science related to
climate change. The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Envi-
ronment Programme (UNEP) to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientic basis of climate change,
its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.
Microclimate: the essentially uniform local climate of a usually small site or habitat.
The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS): a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division (ESD) of National
Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The institute was established in 1961 to
do basic research in space sciences in support of GSFC programs. A key objective of GISS research is prediction of atmo-
spheric and climate changes in the 21st century.
Natural Infrastructure: refers to nature-based solutions that can provide many of the same storm water management,
heat mitigation, and resiliency benets of traditional man-made infrastructure at a lower investment and maintenance
cost. Natural infrastructure approaches include forest, oodplain and wetland protection and management, watershed
restoration, wetland restoration, etc.
The New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC): an independent body charged with providing up-to-date scientic
information, projections, and analyses on climate risks to the City of New York that can inform climate mitigation and
adaptation policy. The NPCC is required by law to meet at least twice each calendar year to review recent scientic data
on climate change and its potential impacts, and to make recommendations on climate projections for the coming de-
cades to the end of the century.
Permeable Pavements: pervious and porous pavements that contribute to stormwater management and cool via evapo-
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transpiration from water and air passing through the pavement. Both asphalt and concrete can be permeable. Perme-
able pavements have been linked to lowered surface and ambient air temperatures in the scientic literature.
Reective Pavements: light-colored pavements with a high albedo that reects more of the sun’s radiation than a dark-
colored pavement with low albedo. To be considered reective, the albedo of a pavement must be over 0.29.
Tax Abatement: a deduction from the full amount of a tax.
Urban Heat Island Effect: a regional elevation in air temperature that represents the difference between air tempera-
tures in urban and built up areas and nearby rural areas.
46Cool Neighborhoods NYC
nyc.gov/resiliency
