New Yorkers told to limit energy use for second week during extreme heat: ‘It’s BS’

To avoid burning up, officials are recommending folks power down.

With scorching temperatures hitting the Big Apple this week, City Hall urged New Yorkers to avoid using large appliances and to turn air conditioners to a sweltering 78 degrees.

Utility giant Con Edison, meanwhile, once again advised city dwellers to limit energy use in order to “keep service reliable” – especially during peak hours of between 2 and 10 p.m.

The recommendations quickly came under fire Tuesday when the mercury reached nearly 100 degrees – and felt more like 110 degrees.

“I think it’s BS,” Ahmed N., 23, told The Post while walking his dog in Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant. “It shouldn’t be [a] personal responsibility to combat a collective problem like climate change.”

“It’s hot regardless, AC or not,” Art J., 29, who was waiting for a cooling center near the park to open, added. “It’s really hot so we need it on all day.”

James Harris, 63, who lives in a building with a cooling center in the basement, said the cooling center was his saving grace — and wasn’t willing to give up his breeze.

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“I don’t even have AC,” he said. “Asking people to limit AC when people don’t even have any … I don’t like that, it’s unfair.”

ConEd first issued the power-down advice in a July 7 alert, and re-issued that guidance in a message sent to customers late Monday morning.

Energy-saving methods like turning down air conditioners will help prevent blackouts and overburdening the electrical grid, Mayor Eric Adams said during a Monday news conference.

Hizzoner later urged city dwellers via X to “avoid using large appliances like washers and dryers” and to “turn your A/C to 78 degrees and a low setting” to “keep everyone’s A/C running safely.”

“We will be monitoring the electrical system,” he noted at the news conference. “The system can be stressed, and when temperatures rise, we urge New Yorkers to be mindful of their energy consumption.”

At Herbert Von King Park, Paige M., 28, told The Post the city should instead be “turning off stuff that isn’t being used.”

Her succinct reaction to ConEd and the mayor’s request to lower energy consumption?

NYC temps may feel like more than 100 degrees as heat wave moves through region

“Bulls–t.”

“They don’t need the lights in Times Square,” Candace Lowe, 35, said outside the Wayside Out Tompkins Louis Armstrong Center, a cooling center in Bed Stuy. “He [Adams] should be turning those off. If not, he should pay our bills then.”

The seasonal call for a Times Square shutoff isn’t anything new: New Yorkers have been calling for a power-down for years.

“If you’re really concerned about conserving energy then … shut off Times Square to tourists,” Ahmed N. added.

However, Times Square is on its own network, meaning lowered energy at the Crossroads of the World wouldn’t affect residents in other neighborhoods, a spokesperson for ConEd told The Post.

Businesses in Times Square have been asked to conserve energy use as well, the spokesperson said.

While Times Square won’t go dim anytime soon, more than 600 buildings have already reduced their energy consumption, which is the equivalent of powering down 12 Empire State Buildings, Adams said Monday.

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Wednesday will still feel close to the 100-degree mark, but the thermometer is expected to drop into the lower 90s with a “couple of scattered storms each day.”

Those experiencing blackouts – or just looking to save on a ConEd bill – can find refuge at one of more than 500 cooling centers across the five boroughs.

Beaches will also be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and hours at Olympic and intermediate pools will be extended from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. through at least Wednesday. Other pools are open until 7 p.m.

Some wading pools, however, are closed due to staffing issues, a NYC Parks spokesperson told The Post. Two were closed Monday. The Claremont Intermediate Pool and Mapes Wading Pool in the Bronx and Lyons Pool in Staten Island were closed as of Tuesday, according to the NYC Parks website.

The scorching heat continues as at least 19 cities across the US have broken all-time temperature records this month. At least 28 people have died, Adams said.

In Manhattan, nearly 75% of maximum temperatures in Central Park were above “normal” on June 1, city Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said.

“This heat is not normal,” Adams added. “Climate change is real, and it is a clear and present danger.”

To report a power outage, visit conEd.com/reportoutage or call 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). Outage restoration times are available via the Con Edison outage map .

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