NYC heat waves are inequitable, here's how to fix them
Image Source: Gary Hershorn, Getty Images
By Eric Pu
The following text was originally intended as a policy memo to Representative Ritchie Torres, of New York’s 15th Congressional District, which includes most of the South Bronx.
This summer, people from all across the world suffered from one of the worst global heat waves in recent history, with record-breaking temperatures experienced in virtually all parts of the Northern Hemisphere. New York City was no exception to this phenomenon, with 725 people being admitted into city emergency rooms over this summer, the most since 2018. The summer of 2022 also included the first week-long heat wave since 2013, with temperatures during this period hitting the mid-90s Fahrenheit. As humanity continues to grapple with the very real effects of climate change, extreme weather events like these will only become more common, highlighting the importance of building climate resilience through public policy. Not only are these high temperatures generally uncomfortable, but they can also have severe health impacts on especially vulnerable demographics like the elderly, who are at risk of respiratory failure, heat cramps and exhaustion, non-fatal heat stroke, and in the worst cases even death.
Although climate change is something that affects every person on the planet to some extent, that isn’t to say that these consequences have equal effects on all people. This is especially apparent in a city like New York, where extreme weather events like heat waves have dramatically more potent effects on those who reside in lower-income communities than those who live in more affluent parts of the city—such a fact can be observed in New York’s 15th Congressional District. The Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) is a metric used to gauge an area’s exposure to adverse effects of extreme heat events, scored on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1 being the least vulnerable, and 5 being the most.) The map below reveals how the poorest and most diverse areas of New York are most vulnerable to heat-related illness, with virtually the entirety of the South Bronx receiving the worst HVI score of 5, indicating extreme risk.
Figure 1. Map of Heat vulnerability index (HVI) scores for neighborhoods across New York (Source: NYC Health).
There are a multitude of reasons for this disparity, the vast majority of which are directly related to differences in socioeconomic conditions between these neighborhoods. From the outside, the cause that is most readily visible is the contrast in availability of green space, as shown in the map below which compares the presence of parks/green spaces to temperature deviation from the mean. Warmer neighborhoods like the South Bronx experience these higher temperatures because the vast majority of their ground surface area is composed of human-made materials like concrete, which absorb solar radiation and trap heat, resulting in the “urban heat island effect.”
Figure 2. Map displaying the average temperature deviation from mean in neighborhoods throughout New York, with parks/green spaces highlighted (Source: New York City Council).
Meanwhile in cooler neighborhoods, vegetative surfaces (like the trees and grass found in parks) reduce the local temperature through a process called “evapotranspiration”, which cools the air by absorbing nearby heat and using it to evaporate water. For that reason, neighborhoods like the affluent Upper West Side, which is surrounded by massive bodies of green space via Central Park and Riverside Park, experience temperatures multiple degrees lower than average. This is just one of the many health benefits that come from investing in the construction of more green spaces, as well as decreased stress, anxiety, heart rate, and blood pressure to name a few others. Thus, more resources should be dedicated towards the expeditious formation of more green spaces in neighborhoods presently deprived of these amenities like the South Bronx.
Another important element of outdoor cooling is in the form of public swimming pools; the cost-free and easily accessible nature of public pools makes them a reliable and fun means of bearing the summer heat, especially for those with young children—in fact, 1.5 million New Yorkers visit one of the city’s roughly 50 public outdoor pools annually. Unfortunately, for many residents in poorer and more diverse communities, not only are these free swimming pools scarce (the entirety of South Bronx only has two), but the high demand for these amenities means that prospective swimmers oftentimes must wait upwards of an hour in the summer heat in order to gain entry. Meanwhile, those who can afford the luxuries of recreation center memberships can circumvent these waits and overcrowding, further exacerbating the socioeconomic inequalities incited by the climate crisis. As summer heat intensifies in the coming years, further investment into these amenities will be integral in combating the effects of climate change.
The remaining strategies for addressing summer heat waves, which involve air conditioning, are without a doubt the least environmentally sustainable, but nonetheless important as they reveal even further inequalities implicit in how New Yorkers experience high temperatures. The most explicit example of this is with home air conditioning, with the following map revealing the percentage of homes with air conditioning units in each neighborhood.
Figure 3. Map illustrating the percentage of households with air conditioning (Source: NYC Health).
Air conditioning ownership tends to be dramatically higher in more affluent and white neighborhoods, such as Lower Manhattan and Staten Island, with “Greenwich Village-SoHo” having the highest rate of 97.8%. Conversely, less wealthy neighborhoods like the South Bronx suffer from some of the lowest rates of air conditioning ownership, with “Mott Haven/Hunts Point” having only 84.3%. These numbers illustrate how beyond the outside landscape, the very neighborhood that you live in can still have serious consequences on how New Yorkers experience the summer heat.
Climate inequality through air conditioning is not just limited to households, however. There also exists a huge disparity in the presence of air conditioning between various public places throughout New York. For instance, while library-goers in wealthy areas like Lower Manhattan can expect comfortable seating and frigid air conditioning at their local branch, the same cannot be said for libraries in other parts of the city. Some branches, including one library in Washington Heights, are still being cooled by electric fans, which prove ineffective at combating heat waves when high levels of humidity are added to the equation. More importantly, libraries are not only important venues for cooling during the summer, but also serve a much greater purpose to the community in providing services in career development, education, entertainment and recreation. Increasing investment into the conditions of New York libraries, including the implementation of air conditioning in all branches, is one of many steps that can be taken to improve equality for the quality of life for city residents.
As the disastrous effects of climate change continue to unfold in real time, serious action must be taken fast in order to construct the environmental resiliency necessary for New Yorkers to withstand these changing conditions. Not only do heat waves make life generally uncomfortable for city residents without good access to cooling amenities, but for certain vulnerable demographics they can also have adverse health effects, and in rare cases may even result in loss of life. This connects to the overarching agenda that climate change has disproportionately large effects on those who reside in lower-income and more diverse communities, and if New York policymakers seek to make the city a more equitable place, then significant changes must be made in the immediate future.
Fortunately, given the assortment of factors that play a role in how New Yorkers experience high temperatures differently, a number of policy recommendations can be drawn. The most important area of focus is combating the urban heat island effect, the root of the problem, by increasing investment into the construction of new green spaces and parks, especially in areas that currently lack these amenities and face the highest average temperatures. Special attention should be directed towards neighborhoods with the greatest heat vulnerability index scores, like the South Bronx, where the construction of more cooling amenities such as public pools should be a primary area of focus. Lastly, upgrading the air conditioning of public spaces like libraries will have a profound impact on providing a reliable and convenient means of cooling down for the general public, especially in residents of poorer areas that don’t have access to many other such venues. Increasing home ownership of air conditioning in these neighborhoods could also be a potential solution, but is only advisable when other options are not feasible, as ultimately the substantial energy consumption from air conditioning will only further exacerbate the climate crisis. Hopefully, through these steps a more climate-resilient and equitable New York can be established.
Eric Pu is a junior at New York University, studying economics and public policy. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, he is deeply interested in urban planning and the unexpected consequences that city amenities have on the daily lives of millions of residents.
