Oppressive heat grips first day of summer in NYC

Jonathan Sanger / msnbc.com

Manny Valdez, 16, attacks the heat, and a sprinkler, in New York's Central Park on Wednesday.

By Andrew Mach, msnbc.com

"Sometimes I get dizzy from the heat, but I just have to push through it," Luis Hoy said from under the green and white umbrella of his ice cream cart in Harlem.?

Hoy has been cooling off New Yorkers for 25 years, but Wednesday -- the first day of summer -- was anything but business as usual.

"The weather might have something to do with it," Hoy chuckled, and said he had high expectations as he prepared for the oppressive heat.

The National Weather Service issued heat advisories through Thursday across Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Temperatures were expected to reach the upper 90s, and excessive heat and humidity to push heat indices above 100 degrees -- dangerous conditions for those spending prolonged periods of time outdoors, the NWS cautioned.

Last summer, heat waves in New York left 19 dead of weather-related hyperthermia, combined with other medical conditions, the medical examiner's office said.

While most people didn?t have to be outside all day, the seasonably high temperatures forced everyone to find ways to beat the heat. Some flocked to air-conditioned office buildings, some to city pools.

Some endured without air conditioning.

New Yorker Kenneth Collins, 57, has an air conditioner in his home in the Bronx, but isn't using it. In order to cut back on costs, the Navy veteran installed four ceiling fans and put towels under door slats to trap the cool air inside.

?To save a few dollars, you deal with it,? he said while watching his grandson at a playground in Harlem. ?Ceiling fans work and make it at least a little bit cooler in the house than it is outside.?

Jonathan Sanger / msnbc.com

When working his ice-cream cart on extremely hot days, Luis Hoy said he drinks up to two gallons of water.

Officials around New York City stepped in to offer relief.?The Office of Emergency Management in New York opened 455 cooling centers?at public locations Wednesday across all five boroughs. The centers are activated when the heat index is forecast to be 95 degrees or higher for two consecutive days?or 100 degrees or higher for one,?OEM spokesperson Judith Graham Kane told msnbc.com.

Scheduled to operate as a cooling center through Thursday, the Kennedy Senior Center in Harlem could save lives for seniors and other community members who don?t have an air conditioner.

Retired social worker Dorothy Hart, 76, said she knows a lot of seniors?-- herself included?-- who live without air conditioning during the summer months. With medications costing hundreds of dollars, she said, it?s too expensive for her to buy an air conditioner, so ?it?s decision time.??

?It?s a catch-22 for seniors,? Hart said. ?Either you buy an air conditioner and go without medication or buy your meds and suffer in the heat. Either way, I can?t afford to get my relief.?

In the same basement of the senior center, amid stereo recordings of Motown songs and games of billiards, Ednold Bullard, 75, said he?s used to this type of weather. Bullard said he grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, and lived in Miami for years.

Jonathan Sanger / msnbc.com

The Office of Emergency Management in New York set up cooling centers throughout the city. William Smalls and George Williams take advantage at the Kennedy Senior Center in Harlem.

?This is nothing,? he said. ?It was like this every day when I was a kid. And I?ve adjusted to this climate since moving here, so now I?m glad I don?t have to risk the heat every day.?

That?s not the case for ice-cream vendor Hoy, originally from Honduras, who wheels his cart to different corners in Harlem from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day as a means to survive.

?I live off of this,? Hoy said, pointing to his cart. ?I would love to go home and sit in the air conditioning when it?s this hot, but I have six kids to support, I pay rent, I pay bills?-- all from this cart.?

Therefore, Hoy said, you can find him come rain, shine or extreme heat, helping other New Yorkers cool off.

Summer's official arrival brings stifling heat to much of the country; weather that's going to be sticking around for a while. NBC's Jay Gray reports.

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