We recorded the temps of NYC subway stations during 100-degree heatwave — the results blew our minds: ‘Dante’s Inferno’
It’s station hot 101.5.
The Big Apple is burning with the mercury climbing to nearly triple figures on Wednesday and Thursday beneath the “heat dome” scorching the Northeast.
That day, Central Park reached a blistering 100-degrees for the first time in nearly 15 years. To add insult to heat stroke, real-feel temps reached a face-melting 110 degrees thanks to the swampy humidity as officials warned commuters to stay cool and remain indoors.
There’s no rest for the roasted — these sweltering conditions are expected to continue into Friday before dropping to a “balmy” 95 on Saturday.
Unfortunately for millions of straphangers, escaping underground is like going out of the frying pan and into the fire. New York City subway platforms can often mirror that of the streets above — so smoldering influencers have even attempted to bake cookies underground like train station teppanyaki.
To find out just how oppressive conditions can really get below the surface, the Post visited some of the city’s most infamously hot and heavily-trafficked stops on Thursday. We recorded platform surface temps using an Ambient Weather WS-HE01 Handheld Heat Stress meter to record air temperature, humidity and heat index, which combines humidity and temp to approximate how hot conditions feel on the skin.
Hot tracks
Lexington Ave — 59th Street platform:
The Lexington Ave — 59th Street 6th train platform felt like a bao steamer with temps soaring to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity hitting 61%, roughly 20% more than at street-level.
Meanwhile, feels-like temps hit a swamp bottom-inducing 107.9 degrees — hotter than Death Valley’s forecast high today, but with nearly 10 times as much humidity.
As rider Andrew, from the UK, told the Post, “over 100 is crazy,” adding that it was far “hotter” than the London’s tube.
Grand Central — 42nd Street:
By contrast, Grand Central’s 6th train platform felt pleasant, clocking in at a “temperate” 89.9 degrees F and a feels-like temp of 96.3 degrees despite feels-like temps topping 60% humidity. For reference, that’s on the lower end of an average day in the equatorial city of Singapore.
This sultry setting was too much for Swiss straphanger Marco Alfirev, who told the Post that he was “sweating like crazy” and called it worse than Europe — save for the continent’s recent record-breaking heat wave.
Times Square–42nd Street
Their “Deuce” is cooked. The mercury eclipsed 91 degrees Fahrenheit on the Times Square — 42nd street street platforms serving the 1, 2 and 3 lines while the heat index climbed above 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It’s too hot, all the time,” Skye Padovani, a commuter from New Jersey, told the Post while buzzing her face with a hand-fan.
14th Street–Union Square
Not even an army of whirring fans could tame the searing conditions at 14th Street — Union Square, whose purgatorial L, 4, 5, and 6 train platforms frequently rank among the hottest in town.
On Thursday, it was char for the course: The regular temps hit 92.5 degrees Fahrenheit with the feels-like readings of 102 F, making waiting for the rails feel like roasting on an underground rotisserie.
Mary Bace said the skillet-like station was only a five-minutes away from her house but she was already “drenched” and feared showing up to a job interview looking “sweaty and crazy.”
Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall
Stefano Giovannini
More like City Hell. Brooklyn Bridge– City Hall’s 4,5,6 line platforms — another perennial contender for NYC’s most sweltering stop — was comparatively comfortable, recording temps of just 89.6 degrees F and a heat index of 97.8.
Fulton Street
The same couldn’t be said for the Fulton Street platform, where the mercury hit 93 F with a feels-like temp of nearly 100 degrees.
Departing the climate-controlled carriages, where temps hover in the mid-70s, felt like stepping from the “Snowpiercer” train onto a human hibachi.
“It’s essentially like a layer of hell, like Dante’s Inferno,” Jose Ocampo lamented to the Post, adding that he didn’t foresee conditions improving anytime soon.
Subterranean sweat lodge
What’s to blame for this subterranean sauna effect?
Experts say the subway is essentially a giant furnace: trains generate heat as they brake and accelerate, passengers contribute body heat, concrete traps and radiates warmth and the train’s cooling systems — somewhat paradoxically — transfer the heat from the train to the tunnels, according to the Regional Plan Association (RPA).
“So much of operating the subway system involves generating more heat,” Rachel Weinberger, the RPA’s VP of Transportation told the Post. “The only thing that air conditioning does is it moves hot air from one space to another space, and it creates more heat in the meantime.”
Simply retrofitting the over-century-old network with aircon isn’t feasible. Unlike newer contained metro stations in Asia and elsewhere, New York’s sprawling network was built as an open system with countless stairways, ventilation grates and interconnected tunnels that make climate-control nigh impossible — akin to running the HVAC with the window open.
Beat the heat
Unfortunately, these inadvertent heating stations aren’t just uncomfortable — they can also be life-threatening.
“Though rare, there has been least one subway death from heat stroke and cases of riders fainting, including one who fell to their death onto the tracks,” Anna Bershteyn, PhD, associate professor, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Health, told the Post.
People chronic health conditions, the elderly and young, and pregnant women rank among the most susceptible to heat-induced afflictions.
To reduce the risk of roasting alive, she advises staying hydrated, checking train times on the MTA app to limit time spent sizzling on the subway platform, and dressing appropriately for the heat wave.
“Wear lightweight, breathable clothing, and bring cold water and a portable fan,” suggested Berhsteyn. “Year-round, take the best care of your health that you can so your body can withstand the stress of a hot commute.”
