"The urban heat island effect is in full force this summer. Adaptive architecture and street trees can help."
"Summer heat in New York City beats down on asphalt and tall buildings, which get hotter, scorching the locals, who can’t stop sweating. Exhaust from trucks and cars hangs in the air and the subway stations trap extreme amounts of heat.
Some residents face greater exposure to high temperatures than others. That depends on multiple factors—whether they have in-home air conditioners and can pay to run them, the abundance of trees and green space in their neighborhoods and the way the urban design that surrounds them traps and amplifies heat.
Across the city, residents of color and low-income New Yorkers often suffer the most from extreme heat. According to city data, Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heatstroke, with death rates twice that of white residents. An important factor in heat-related deaths is that Black and low-income residents are less likely to own or operate an air conditioner, due to the cost.
The area around Newtown Creek—the small stream that separates Brooklyn and Queens—is over 8 degrees hotter than the average surface temperature across the city, according to City Council data on heat inequality—especially the radius that surrounds the creek’s tributaries, English Kills and East Branch."
Lauren Dalban reports for Inside Climate News August 12, 2025.
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