Stay Inside, City Warns As 110-Degree Heat Looms

NEW YORK — City officials warned New Yorkers Friday to stay inside during the weekend heat wave that will bring potentially dangerous temperatures to the five boroughs. Saturday and Sunday are expected to feel as hot as at least 110 degrees with humidity factored with the mercury hitting a high of 97 both days, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Staying indoors in air conditioning is the best way to stay safe as the weather could put New Yorkers at risk of heat stroke, which kills about 13 people in the city each year, city officials said.

"Our fear is people dying," de Blasio said at a Friday news confernce. "… Our fear is with this kind of temperature, people aren’t used to it. It’s a very rare occurrence."

Anyone who can't stay at home should stay hydrated and keep to the shade or head to another air-conditioned place such as a city cooling center, according to city officials.

De Blasio signed an executive order Thursday night requiring large office buildings to keep their thermostats at 78 degrees to avoid overloading the city's power system. But the mandate won't apply to public places such as movie theaters and restaurants as well as medical buildings, the mayor said.

The weather is especially dangerous for senior citizens and people with health problems such as asthma that the heat makes worse, said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city's health commissioner. Some 115 people die annually from the heat-related exacerbation of chronic illnesses, she said.

"Stay indoors especially if you are elderly, if you have a chronic underlying illness such as asthma, diabetes, kidney disease — all of those put you at additional risk for adverse consequences from the heat," Barbot said.

The weekend will be far hotter than the normal high of 84 degrees for this time of year but won't come close to the city's record temperature of 106 degrees set on July 9, 1936, according to the National Weather Service.

The impending heat wave has nonetheless forced the city to cancel two major events: Sunday's New York City Triathlon and the two-day OZY Fest slated to take place in Central Park.

City officials have expressed concerns about Con Ed's ability to handle the heat after the blackout that darkened swaths of Manhattan last Saturday. The city will be in "constant communication" with Con Ed and PSEG to monitor the electrical grid over the weekend following that incident, Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell said.

The Office of Emergency Management also opened its Emergency Operations Center Friday so several different government agencies can respond quickly to heat-related crises, Criswell said.

Barbot urged New Yorkers to stay hydrated with water and to be careful caffeinated and alcoholic drinks.

"I’m not saying don’t drink them, but just don’t use them to hydrate," she said.