Today, the South Bronx has the least amount of green space per capita in the city and is crisscrossed by power plants, waste dumps and freeways, causing significant noise and air pollution. Residents face high rates of infant mortality, cognitive impairment, heart disease, and asthma, and Mott Haven is known as ‘ Asthma Alley.’ These conditions increase vulnerability to heat.

“Environmental racism in the South Bronx is clear,” said Arif Ullah, executive director of the environmental justice group South Bronx Unite.

Similar inequities have been identified across the country. Analysis of 115 metropolitan areas from San Jose, California, to Louisville, Kentucky, to Hartford, Connecticut, neighborhoods with larger numbers of residents who identify as black, African American, Hispanic, or Latino were found to be less likely to have air conditioning.

To combat rising temperatures, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has implemented heatstroke measures. For one week, starting June 18, hundreds of locations were designated as air-conditioned facilities where residents could stay cool during the day.

New York City Emergency Management Director Zach Iscol said the city is distributing “cool kits” and indoor thermometers. He said: There is a program to help low-income residents who need heating and cooling. This year, 21,000 applications have already been received.

Installing air conditioning for people with mobility impairments is actually essential as outdoor temperatures rise — or these individuals may never be able to reach a cooling center. In areas like Brownsville, the South Bronx, and East Harlem, residents also report being exposed to crime and drug dealing when they go outside to cool off.

Celine Olivarius, who has lived in the South Bronx for nine years, brought her two grandsons, ages 9 and 4, to cool off in the fountains at Willis Playground. She expresses concern about the opioid epidemic, as drug users are injecting in the bathroom, and she worries that children might pick up needles.

Environmentalists say one solution to beat the heat in sprawling cities is to plant more trees, create green spaces like parks and meadows, and cover rooftops with vegetation.

“We need to focus on low-income communities, people of color, and immigrant communities,” Uhlfelder said. Areas with a 33 percent reduction in tree canopy area are likely to experience a 13-degree increase (7 degrees Celsius) in temperature compared to predominantly white areas just two miles away.

The New York City Council passed laws last fall to add trees to the City Charter Sustainability Plan and mandate the development of urban forest plans to increase tree cover from 22 percent to 30 percent by 2035.

“I’ve never felt anything like it,” said Howard Shillingford, a 58-year-old janitor who grew up in the South Bronx, on a recent sweltering day. It’s especially bad when he’s cleaning school staircases, where the windows often don’t open.

“Oh my goodness, those stairs look like an oven,” Shillingford said as he read the news on a computer at Mott Haven Public Library, another cooling center.

Residents in heat-stricken areas are getting resourceful. Berrios holds a wet towel to the back of her neck. Olivarria squirts her grandchildren with a toy water gun. Jorge Morales, a 54-year-old graffiti artist from the South Bronx, showers twice a day and washes his Chihuahua, Bugsy, in the sink. Residents sometimes unscrew fire hydrants, allowing water to spill off the sidewalk and onto the street.

“I don’t like wasting water, but people here do it. It’s a way of survival,” Morales, who is half Puerto Rican and half Cuban, said as he charged his phone in the same library.

Experts say extreme heat will likely become the new normal and should not be underestimated. Heat waves have become more frequent since 1936.

“If we continue on this path, the heat wave in 2044 will be much worse than the one we’re experiencing now,” said Jones, the science historian. “This is not an unusual heat wave. It is a sign of things to come.”

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