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Q&A
Operating hours of NYC's cooling centers
0:32:02
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81 sec
Council Member Keith Powers inquires about the operating hours of cooling centers in NYC. Christina Farrell explains the typical hours and the considerations for extending them during extreme heat events.
- No cooling centers operate 24/7, though the website is accessible 24/7
- Centers typically operate during normal business hours of their host facilities
- Hours may be extended during extreme heat events, but this is challenging due to staffing and funding constraints
Keith Powers
0:32:02
Got it.
0:32:03
And right now, are all how many are twenty four seven during a heat crisis?
Christina Farrell
0:32:09
No cooling centers are twenty four seven.
0:32:11
The website is twenty four seven.
Keith Powers
0:32:12
Website.
0:32:13
Got it.
0:32:13
And what are the normal hours for most of them?
Christina Farrell
0:32:17
They're whatever the normal hours are for the facility.
0:32:20
You know, based on and I I think people probably understand, you know, the hottest part of the day and when we have heat emergencies, unless it's something really out of the ordinary, which has happened from time to time and we have adjusted.
0:32:34
But usually as the sun starts to go down, we are out of the heat emergency around seven, 08:00, and then it can start up again the next morning.
0:32:42
And so and as Carrie said, you know, most people, you need to get out of the heat for a few hours.
0:32:48
You know, this isn't like a coastal storm or something where you're at risk obviously for the whole time.
0:32:52
You need relief for a few hours.
0:32:55
So we do if we have extreme heat where it gets the heat indices gets above a hundred, we will talk to city partners to see if they can extend their hours.
0:33:04
But I think as we all know, know, the nonprofits that run senior centers, libraries, these are not you know generously always funded organizations and so they are super responsive, know they work really closely with us But we try not to put too many demands on them as they are not being funded.
Keith Powers
0:33:23
Got it.