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NYC Council bill aims to close gaps between hospitals and shelters after deadly winter
By
Ryan Kost
and
Giulia Heyward
Published Mar 6, 2026
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Massimo Giachetti via Getty Images
By
Ryan Kost
and
Giulia Heyward
Published Mar 6, 2026
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Nolberto Jimbo-Niola, 52, died outside in the bitter cold this winter and was found on a Queens park bench with discharge papers from a local hospital.
His death was one of more than two dozen from hypothermia so far this year in New York City, as residents faced a weekslong stretch of brutally cold temperatures. The fatalities led to calls from lawmakers and advocates to shore up the city’s safety net when it comes to extreme weather risks, especially for homeless and medically vulnerable people.
They also spurred questions over whether Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration could have done more to prevent the deaths.
City Councilmember Shaun Abreu is proposing legislation requiring city officials and hospitals to boost protections and resources for those groups during weather emergencies, which are becoming more common due to climate change.
Two bills he plans to introduce at a Council hearing on Monday seek to ensure patients are safely discharged from hospitals and to improve coordination between health care providers and the city’s homeless services.
The park where Nolberto Jimbo Niola, 52, was found dead in Queens on Jan. 25, 2026
David Brand / Gothamist
Abreu, who represents parts of Manhattan, said the measures were driven in part by Jimbo-Niola’s death in North Corona after he was released from Elmhurst Hospital two days earlier.
“There’s a serious determination to get these bills passed as soon as possible,” he said in an interview. “We’re sort of out of the woods on extreme cold, I believe, but extreme heat is on the way and the onus is on us to get something passed expeditiously.”
One bill would direct the city Department of Homeless Services to provide materials for hospitals and patients on emergency resources, recommended discharge procedures and contact information for city agencies. It would also require the department to work with hospitals during the release process and connect homeless patients to warming centers, drop-in centers and shelters.
The other bill mandates that the agency work with hospitals to make certain supplies available upon a patient’s release. Those include a thermal blanket, hand warmers and a winter hat during cold weather and a reusable water bottle, cooling wipes and a bandanna during hot weather. Abreu said the list of items could change as the bill moves through the Council.
Some of the first bill’s provisions already appear to be covered by city policy. The Department of Social Services reportedly sent a reminder letter to local hospitals this season discouraging discharges during weather emergencies. There is also an existing referral process for homeless patients admitted to and discharged from hospitals.
But David Giffen, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless, said the current guidance has significant gaps. During the cold stretch, he said he heard from doctors and staff in hospital emergency departments who were unaware of the guidance the homeless services agency had sent earlier in the season.
Giffen said the doctors told him their emergency rooms were filling up with homeless people who had nowhere to go, and they were concerned hospital directors would start releasing these patients to make room for others.
“ I don't know, practically speaking, what steps need to be taken. But, you know, once a year or every time there's a Code Blue, simply sending an email to all of the [emergency departments] doesn't really do the trick,” Giffen said, referring to the city’s protocol for increasing homeless outreach during cold weather.
He also noted that while the Department of Homeless Services — which is part of the larger social services agency — sends its guidance to private hospitals, they’re not required to follow it.
“Information is always good, but what we really need to see is something with teeth to ensure that nobody who does not have a safe place to go leaves a hospital out onto the streets where they are clearly in danger of perishing from the cold,” Giffen said.
"[The Department of Social Services] is in support of the spirit of this bill, which is ensuring unsheltered neighbors are kept safe during Code Blue emergencies,” said agency spokesperson Neha Sharma, but stopped short of endoring the bills themselves. “DSS already works closely with hospitals to ensure collaboration, particularly during weather emergencies.”
NYC Health and Hospitals, which oversees the city’s public hospitals, did not return requests for comment on Friday.
The prolonged run of below-freezing temperatures this winter, one of the city’s coldest in years, resulted in at least 29 hypothermia deaths since mid-January, according to authorities. Just more than half of those deaths occurred outdoors or in other public spaces.
Lawmakers and city officials are still grappling with questions around whether the Mamdani administration did enough to help the most vulnerable during the extreme cold. During an oversight hearing last month Council Speaker Julie Menin said the deaths were preventable.
“These deaths are not inevitable,” she said. “They are the result of gaps in outreach, shelter capacity, mental health services and follow-up.”
Tagged
Health and Science
Politics
homelessness
new york city
public safety
weather
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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