New Haven activists blast city officials for closing cooling centers amid high heat

Activists in New Haven are criticizing city officials for closing cooling centers Friday evening during a dangerous stretch of extreme heat, saying the shutdowns left unhoused residents and others without reliable relief when conditions were still punishing.

The complaint, reported by the New Haven Register, came as temperatures in New Haven reached about 96 degrees and Connecticut remained under a statewide extreme hot weather protocol. Members of the Unhoused Activist Community Team argued the city should have kept public cooling options open longer.

The dispute centers on how much access people without air conditioning or stable housing had to indoor relief at the end of the workweek, and whether the city’s schedule matched the seriousness of the heat.

What closed and when

According to the report, five cooling centers were open Friday, but they did not all stay open into the evening. Three senior centers closed at 4 p.m., the Ives Main Library closed at 5 p.m. and City Hall closed at 6 p.m.

The city had opened cooling centers earlier in the week as part of Connecticut’s broader heat response. The New Haven Register said city officials also extended splash pad hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to offer more relief.

The question raised by activists was not whether the city had any cooling options at all, but whether the timing of the closures was enough during the most dangerous part of the heat event.

State heat response

Gov. Ned Lamont activated Connecticut’s extreme hot weather protocol on June 30, and CT Insider reported that the measure remained in effect through at least Sunday evening. Lamont urged residents to use cooling centers, especially vulnerable people who might not have home cooling.

CT Insider also reported that New Haven had been using libraries and senior centers as cooling sites during their normal business hours, with a public meeting room open Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. as an alternate cool location. The city’s splash pads were also part of the response, with earlier reporting noting they were set to run from 10 a.m. to sunset before the hours were extended.

The broader backdrop was a holiday-period heat wave that had prompted officials to lean on public buildings and outdoor water features as emergency relief options.

City plans and open questions

The New Haven Register reported that the city planned to reopen cooling centers Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Officials did not currently plan to open cooling centers Sunday, but said they would assess need.

If Sunday cooling sites are required, the city said it would use 200 Orange Street or Career Regional High School. That left open whether the city would need to expand access again if the heat persisted or if demand increased.

The report said neither city nor state officials immediately responded to requests for comment on the activists’ criticism.

For now, the issue is not just whether New Haven had cooling centers open, but whether those hours were sufficient for people most exposed to extreme heat. The criticism touches public health, homelessness response and emergency coordination between the city and the state at a time when dangerous temperatures were still posing risk.