New York will open all 11 public hospitals as warming centers during the worst winter weather

New Yorkers facing dangerously cold weather could soon have more indoor refuge to turn to.

New York City plans to open all 11 of its public hospitals as warming centers during the harshest winter weather, part of an effort to protect residents from the cold.

Here's what to know

The city's Code Blue system provides indoor places to warm up and outreach services for people experiencing homelessness during snow emergencies. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a $25 million expansion of the program, according to CBS News.

All 11 NYC Health + Hospitals facilities will serve as warming centers during the most severe conditions. The city's announcement calls for at least four sites to offer that refuge during less extreme weather.

City officials also plan to deploy several dozen mobile units, offering medical help and rides to warming centers and hospitals. More than 300 canvassers will also spread the word about available cold-weather resources.

People experiencing homelessness will have more shelter choices under the city's plan to make hundreds of one- and two-person rooms available.

Mamdani said the administration would use state laws allowing involuntary removal when someone meets the legal criteria, including mental instability and posing a danger to themselves or others. Those people would then receive a psychiatric evaluation at a hospital.

More background

The preparations follow a snow season that exposed gaps in the city's winter response.

Staten Island's hilliest neighborhoods have eight additional plow routes following snow-removal problems, per CBS News. The Department of Sanitation is expanding the areas it clears to include more pedestrian spaces, including sidewalks and bus stops.

CBS News reported that a "super" El Niño is forecast to produce above-normal temperatures and precipitation, though cold air could create opportunities for snowstorms.

The outlet's First Alert Weather seasonal forecast predicts Central Park snowfall totaling 18 to 28 inches.

During the 2016 "super" El Niño winter, New York City recorded a record-setting 27.5-inch snowfall in January, according to CBS News.

What's being done?

The Department of Sanitation has bought 120 snowblowers and is modernizing more than 650 plows to help clear the city's streets, according to CBS News.

The city's central supply site is stocking up for winter. A six-month reserve of calcium chloride and rock salt is in the works, and 500 million pounds of salt are already on hand.

Residents can earn money helping with the cleanup through the Emergency Snow Shovelers program. Over 3,000 people had signed up by November 9, far outpacing the few hundred who had enrolled by the same point in 2025.

The program pays $30 an hour, rising to $45 an hour once a worker exceeds 40 hours in one week, according to CBS News.

Officials are also working to keep public housing residents warm. The New York City Housing Authority has spent millions of dollars upgrading, repairing, and replacing heating infrastructure, according to CBS News.

"This winter, we're doing things differently," the mayor said. "We're expanding Code Blue to reach more New Yorkers in need, equipping New York's Strongest to clear snow and ice faster and leaving no stone unturned when it comes to protecting our neighbors from the cold. No New Yorker should face the dangers of winter alone, and no part of our city should be left behind."

Where can I learn more?

Staying safe in dangerous cold depends on having a warm place to go, whether that's a shelter or a reliably heated home.

• In Florida, Flagler County's only cold-weather shelter is moving to the fairgrounds.

• New York will investigate every tenant heat complaint after an earlier policy closed thousands.

• A New York fire official urged furnace checks and CO detectors before the first cold snap.

• New York tenants said the city's 'worst landlord' left them without heat or hot water before court.

• In New York, heating-bill relief reaches half of households after 38,000 applied in three weeks.

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