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City Opens Cooling Centers in Central and East Brooklyn as Heat Wave Is Hitting NYC

It's going to get hot: Brooklynites who do not have air conditioners are urged to go to one of the local cooling centers.
Heat Wave, BK Reader
Photo credit: NYC Parks

As New York City is facing the first heatwave of the year, the NYC Emergency Management and the Health Department issued an advisory on Tuesday to urge New Yorkers to prepare for the extreme heat. 

According to the latest National Weather Service forecast, temperatures and heat indices will increase this week, reaching dangerously high levels by the weekend. This weekend, heat indices may climb to 109 degrees.

To help New Yorkers beat the heat, the city has opened its 500 cooling centers throughout the five boroughs beginning on Wednesday, July 17 through Sunday, July 21.

"Extreme heat is an underestimated and deadly hazard. The best way to beat the heat is to use an air-conditioner or to visit one of the city's Cooling Centers," NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell said. "NYC Emergency Management will continue to work closely with the National Weather Service to monitor weather conditions throughout the period of extreme heat."

BK residents stay cool at Kosciuszko Pool in Bed-Stuy
In addition to opening its 500 cooling centers, the city is also extending pool hours at select pools.

In New York City, most heat-related deaths occur after exposure to heat in homes without air conditioners. Officials emphasized that air conditioning is the best way to stay safe and healthy when it is hot outside. New Yorkers most at risk are those with chronic medical, mental health, cognitive or developmental conditions, take certain medicines that can affect body temperature, have limited mobility or are unable to leave their homes, are obese, or misuse alcohol or drugs.

Those who do not have an air conditioner can go to one of the city's cooling center  — air-conditioned facilities such as libraries, community centers, senior centers and NYCHA facilities -- which are open to the public during heat emergencies.

Here is a selection of cooling centers in Central and East Brooklyn:

Bedford Stuyvesant

  • Macon Library, 361 Lewis Avenue
  • Wayside Tompkins Park NSC, 550 Greene Avenue
  • Sumner Community Center, 862 Park Avenue

Brownsville

  • Marcus Garvey Community Center, 20 Amboy Street
  • Brownsville Corps Community Center, 280 Riverdale Avenue
  • Unity Plaza Youth Center, 576 Blake Avenue

Bushwick

  • Bushwick Corps Community Center, 1151 Bushwick Avenue
  • Washington Irving Library, 360 Irving Avenue
  • Ridgewood Bushwick ISC, 9 Noll Street

Crown Heights

  • Kingsborough Youth Center, 129 Kings 1st Walk
  • Albany Community Center, 164 Troy Avenue
  • Eastern Parkway Library, 1044 Eastern Parkway
To help New Yorkers beat the heat, the city has opened its 500 cooling centers throughout the five boroughs beginning on Wednesday, July 17 through Sunday, July 21. 
New Lots Library in East New York. Photo: Google Maps

East New York

  • New Lotts Library, 665 New Lots Avenue
  • Penn Wortman Community Center, 895 Pennsylvania Avenue
  • Starrett City NSC, 1540 Van Siclen Avenue

Flatbush

  • Flatbush Library, 22 Linden Boulevard
  • Remsen Neighborhood NSC, 3304 Clarendon Road
  • Saint Gabriels NSC, 331 Hawthorne Street

Fort Greene / Clinton Hill

  • Clinton Hill Library, 380 Washington Avenue
  • Walt Whitman Library, 93 Edwards Street
  • Willoughby NSC, 105 North Portland Avenue

Prospect Heights

  • Atlantic Terminal Youth Center, 501 Carlton Avenue
  • Grace Agard Harewood, Senior Center 966 Fulton Street
  • Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, 10 Grand Army Plaza

 For a complete list of cooling centers closest to you, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/beattheheat.

Additionally, the city announced that the NYC Parks Department has extended the hours for Olympic-sized pools to 8:00pm. In Central Brooklyn, McCarren Pool and Kosciusko Pool will have extended hours during the heatwave.

"We want New Yorkers and visitors to stay safe and cool during the high temperatures," said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver. "From tree shade and cooling centers to spray showers, pools and beaches, we encourage all to use our city resources to beat the heat in the coming days."

Stay cool, Brooklynites, and don't forget to hydrate!




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