In the harsh chill of a Manhattan night, a homeless woman was left to fend for herself on a city sidewalk, as temperatures plummeted dangerously close to zero. Despite her vulnerable state, first responders were unable to offer assistance due to the constraints of city guidelines, as they explained to reporters from The Post.
The unidentified woman, clad in a hooded sweatshirt, slippers, and two blankets, was observed grooming herself and mumbling on East 34th Street, not far from NYU Langone Hospital. The early hours of Sunday morning brought with it bitter cold, yet efforts by emergency medical personnel and police officers to help her were met with refusal.
According to responders, the woman’s ability to answer basic questions prevented them from intervening further. This aligns with the criteria outlined in the homeless policies introduced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Her knowledge of the current year, her location in New York, and the identity of the president demonstrated sufficient mental capacity, thereby limiting the actions authorities could take.
“She knew the year, 2026,” a firefighter relayed to The Post, highlighting the challenge they faced. “She knew where she was: New York, Manhattan. She knew who the president is. Since she has mental capacity, there is nothing we can do. We can’t force her to go inside. We can’t kidnap her.”
The firefighter somberly acknowledged the harsh reality of the situation: “Some people can survive,” he said. “Some don’t.”
Expressing their reluctance to abandon the woman to the frigid conditions, an EMS worker at the scene added, “I don’t want to leave her out here.”
“My hands are tied.”
The woman was first spotted on East 34th Street by The Post around 9:30 p.m. Saturday and remained there at least till 3 a.m. Sunday — when she took out a broom and began sweeping the sidewalk as the mercury hovered at 3 degrees.
She was still on the street Sunday afternoon.
Mamdani has come under fire for refusing to clear Big Apple homeless encampments and forcibly remove vagrants during the ongoing deadly cold snap, which has killed at least 17 people so far.
On Sunday, temperatures in the five boroughs were colder than in Antarctica, with the first Extreme Cold Warning in 22 years issued for millions in the New York metro area, officials said.
“With freezing temperatures expected again this weekend, I am writing to ask: What measures will be in place to ensure every New Yorker is in a warm place?” Democratic City Councilman Oswald Feliz of The Bronx wrote in a recent letter to City Hall.
“Specifically: Will outreach efforts be intensified to ensure every homeless New Yorker is reached?”
When The Post spotted the female vagrant out in the frost-bite-inducing weather Saturday, it called 311, and an operator said they had gotten “a lot of code blue calls” because of the potentially killer weather.
EMS arrived around 11 p.m.
“I am not homeless,” the woman told the first responders, giving her name as “Ms. Aimly.”
“I have a home,” she said, pointing to bags containing her only possessions.
A paramedic asked, “Is it cold outside?”
She replied, “It’s not cold.
“It’s freezing,’’ she said. “Stop harassing me. I don’t to go to prison.”
Three FDNY vehicles arrived at one point, as well as NYPD cops who stopped by to check on the shaking woman.
An FDNY worker gave her a blanket and hand warmers, which she took but did not unwrap.
“Why don’t you help someone who can’t walk? I can walk. I am fine,’’ she said.
The workers eventually left, saying they could do nothing under the current city guidelines.
But despite the emergency responders’ assessment that she was mentally capable, based on her answers to a handful of basic questions, the woman appeared to slip in and out of coherent conversation.
“That’s not a hospital,” she told The Post, pointing to NYU Langone across the street. “That’s a repost.
“The entire area from 28th to 37th street is a repost,” she blurted out.
The man working behind the counter at the Bread and Butter deli near the woman told The Post that the woman had been living outside the store for three years.
“Sometimes we give her food,” the man said.
When The Post approached her, she said, “I am doing an investigation.
“I don’t want to talk to a reporter. Please stop harassing me.”
