Mayor Bloomberg declares Heat Emergency

In response to the record-breaking heat wave, Mayor Bloomberg has signed an Executive Order, declaring a Heat Emergency, directing all city agencies to do all that is necessary to help all New Yorkers cope with the scorching temperatures.
&#8220The heat wave affects New Yorkers in all five boroughs, and that's why the City is aggressively moving to protect New Yorkers from Tottenville to Co-Op City from this week's oppressive heat and promote energy conservation,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
&#8220I urge all New Yorkers - especially seniors - to try to beat the heat by drinking plenty of water, staying out of the sun, avoiding strenuous activity, and taking advantage of city cooling centers and public pools.”
The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is coordinating the city's efforts to help New Yorkers avoid heat-related illnesses during temperatures which were projected to reach 100 degrees, as they did on Tuesday, Aug 1.
Initiatives to help &#8220beat the heat,” include extended hours in the city's 383 cooling centers, as well as monitoring the status of the Department of Aging's homebound clients throughout the heat wave.
In addition, the Department of Parks and Recreation will extend pool hours on any day the temperature goes over 95 degrees and urges New Yorkers to utilize the more than 600 spray showers in city parks throughout the five boroughs. New Yorkers can call 3-1-1 for information on city pools, spray showers, and cooling center locations and hours.
For those residents wishing to cool-off with water from a fire hydrant, they should only use city-approved fire hydrant spray caps, available free of charge at a local firehouse. The city warns that illegally opening a fire hydrant - without using a spray cap - is wasteful and dangerous. New Yorkers can call 3-1-1 to report an opened hydrant.
According to Bloomberg, &#8220The city will also reduce its energy usage this week, and I urge all New Yorkers to do the same - you can conserve energy by turning off unnecessary appliances and using air conditioning only when you are home.”
The city has orchestrated several key facilities - such as Rikers Island, six of the City's wastewater treatment plants, and the Department of Transportation and the Parks Department - to reduce their use of the electrical grid, by using generators. In addition, private employers across the city have also pledged to conserve energy; the famous lights atop the Empire State Building were turned off on the nights of Wednesday, August 2 and Thursday, August 3.
See tips on heat-related illnesses on page 33.