As New York navigates a brutal heat wave that forced Gov. Kathy Hochul to activate the National Guard to assist in emergencies, a new report by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has revealed that each summer, on average, an estimated 350 New Yorkers die prematurely because of the hot weather.
What's more, the report explains that the heat-related death rate of Black New Yorkers is twice as high as White New Yorkers, with Latinos coming in second place. The study pins these differences on inequities stemming from systemic racism: "this inequity is due to past and current structural racism that creates economic, health care, housing, energy, and other systems that benefit White people and disadvantage people of color."
