Nine people who died in last winter's cold, unclaimed for months, get a funeral Monday. What the city told the Council about the deaths
They were among 18 homeless people who died outdoors in the freeze. The Council held hearings within weeks and passed four laws in April. The first warming center report is due in April 2027.
Nine people who died on New York City's streets during last winter's deep freeze will be laid to rest Monday, Nov. 2, at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, according to the church's event notice. Their remains had gone unclaimed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Without intervention, the notice says, they would have been buried on Hart Island, the city's public burial ground.
The 5:30 p.m. All Souls' Day Mass is open to the public. The church says their cremated remains will be placed in its Resurrection Chapel. The effort brought together the church, the nonprofit Housing Works, the group CutRedTape4Heroes and a funeral home that provided its services at no cost. Housing Works also registered with the city's Human Resources Administration as an "Organizational Friend," which the notice says will let it claim other unclaimed remains.
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Why it matters to residents: the deaths led to some of the most pointed Council hearings of the year and a package of laws on how the city responds in extreme cold.
What our records add
The numbers the Council heard. At a Feb. 10 Public Safety hearing, chair Oswald J. Feliz said 17 New Yorkers had died in the freezing conditions, 13 from hypothermia. Later in the hearing, Chief Medical Examiner Jason Graham testified that at least 15 of 18 deaths under review were directly related to hypothermia: eight confirmed and seven with "very high likelihood," with investigations ongoing (2:05:12). Molly Wasow Park, testifying as commissioner of the Department of Social Services, told members that in an average year, hypothermia deaths among homeless people range from about 10 to 20 (58:09). By the March 19 Health Committee hearing, 16 people had been confirmed to have died of hypothermia, and all 16 had been identified.
The Speaker pressed the administration. At the February hearing, Speaker Julie Menin said the administration's own information showed 10 deaths presumed to be from hypothermia (44:08).
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Four laws followed. On April 30, the Council passed four bills 50-0. All four became law May 30 without the mayor's signature:
- Int. 790, from Rita C. Joseph, requires an annual report on every warming center: location, hours, staffing, visitors and accessibility. The first is due April 15, 2027.
- Int. 778, from Lincoln Restler, requires the Department of Homeless Services to build a shared, real-time system to track every outreach contact with people living on the street, with quarterly reports to the Council. It takes effect two years after enactment.
- Int. 726 and Int. 727, from Shaun Abreu, require the homeless services commissioner to work with hospitals during cold-weather alerts, giving patients information and making supplies available to homeless patients being discharged.
Hart Island has come up before. At a June 10 budget hearing, the Council heard about families' trouble reaching Hart Island since it moved from the Correction Department to the Parks Department.
What's next
The General Welfare and Aging committees hold a joint oversight hearing on the city's aging homeless population on Nov. 16. The Sanitation Committee reviews winter storm readiness on Monday, the same day as the funeral.