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Council to vote on bill requiring minimum cooling center locations and public feedback channels
Summary
Introduction 998a would codify the city’s cooling center program, require at least seven cooling centers per 100,000 residents during heat emergencies and direct the Office of Emergency Management to solicit public feedback on access.
The City Council considered Introduction 998a on Aug. 14, a bill sponsored by Councilmember Keith Powers to codify and expand New York City’s cooling center program. The measure would require the commissioner of the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to designate cooling center locations during a heat-related emergency and to ensure at least seven cooling centers per 100,000 residents.
The proposed law would require determinations on locations to consider factors such as concentrations of vulnerable populations. It would also require OEM to provide information on how the public can submit feedback about their experiences at cooling centers or report challenges accessing them.
Councilmember Powers said the bill responds to recent, extreme heat and aims to make better resourced and geographically equitable cooling centers that can serve vulnerable New Yorkers. The transcript records that the bill was on the floor for a vote; the excerpt does not include the voting result.
