Winter Storm January 2026

“These deaths are not inevitable,” Council Speaker Julie Menin said at a hearing last week. “They are the result of gaps in outreach, shelter capacity, mental health services and follow-up."

A shift in communications protocol has resulted in information on at least 26 deaths being released in a piecemeal fashion.

The cases show even those with stable living situations can be vulnerable to extreme weather.

City Hall says 22 deaths, including seven people found at private homes and at least 15 found outside, were related to hypothermia.

Alcohol and drugs were a factor in four of five early deaths, according to the examiner.

Mamdani is under mounting pressure to help more New Yorkers move off the streets amid a deadly stretch of freezing weather.

Temperatures could be at or below freezing into next week.

The mayor's office said this could be the coldest stretch in city history.

Frederick Jones had an apartment and on-site services. He died on a Midtown street corner anyway.

The eight men and two women were found in different locations across the city as temperatures plummeted to dangerous lows.