Even in the depths of extreme heat, many shelters prohibit residents from installing AC units.
Residents of New York City homeless shelters are often barred from installing air conditioning units, report Andy Newman and Julian Roberts-Grmela for The New York Times, putting many at risk of heat-related illnesses. “Thousands of families with children live in New York City shelters that lack air-conditioning in the rooms where people live and sleep, even in the depths of a heat wave.” More than 100 NYC shelters are in buildings without air conditioning.
According to the article, “The city allows air-conditioners to be installed in units in older shelter buildings, but residents must obtain a note from a health care provider saying that a unit is medically necessary.” Yet even when residents have a doctor’s note, some say they had a hard time getting AC units approved, and the city says some buildings’ wiring isn’t equipped to handle the demand of ACs in every room. “Shelters typically have an air-conditioned common area, but those rooms do not offer places to sleep.”
FULL STORY: Air-Conditioning Is a Perk Many New York Homeless Shelters Don’t Allow
More Unhoused New Yorkers Died in 2021 Than in any Prior Year
New York City saw its deadliest year for people living in shelters or public spaces, with the pandemic and a rise in deadly overdoses fueling a fatal epidemic.
NYC Lawmaker Proposes Mandatory Cooling Law
Despite hundreds of heat-related deaths every year, the city has no regulations on cooling in residential units.
Study: Homeless People Face Higher Mortality Risk
Unhoused adults are more than three times as likely to die in any given year as their housed counterparts, research shows.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
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‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
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The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
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Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research