Authorities have not yet shared if the man died under suspicious circumstances
Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A man was found dead in New York City’s Central Park on Thursday, amid a heavy snowstorm that left much of the city shut down
- NYPD officials confirmed that a man was found dead in a pile of snow near the Central Park Carousel
- In a statement to PEOPLE, the NYPD said that the medical examiner is set to conduct an autopsy to determine the man’s cause of death
A man was found dead in New York City's Central Park on Thursday, amid a heavy snowstorm that shut down much of the city.
New York Police Department (NYPD) officials confirmed to the New York Post and the New York Daily News on Thursday, Feb. 26 that a man, whose identity has not been made public, was found dead in a pile of snow near the Central Park Carousel that morning.
Authorities said that the man's body was found under a pile of leaves and in the snow near 63 Traverse Road and Center Drive at around 10:50 a.m. The man was unconscious and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have not yet shared if the man's death was suspicious, and the NYPD told PEOPLE in a statement that the medical examiner is set to conduct an autopsy to determine his cause of death.
Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty
Per NBC News, the latest storm to hit New York City is being billed by officials as potentially one of the 10 worst to hit the city in 150 years, and on Feb. 23, more than 40 million people were under a blizzard warning, The New York Times reported.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, N.Y.C. Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a local state of emergency ahead of the snowstorm. City streets were closed to all non-essential vehicle traffic from 9 p.m. on Sunday to 12 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, to ensure emergency responders and essential workers could travel as safely as possible.
Additionally, Mamdani stated all public schools in the city (except for those operating as warming centers) would be closed on Monday due to the intense weather, instead observing a traditional "snow day" without remote instruction.
Non-essential travel in N.Y.C. was suspended until noon on Monday, along with New Jersey’s public transportation and the Long Island Rail Road.
Credit: Ryan Murphy/Getty
Thursday's death is one of more than a dozen that have occurred in New York City this year amid heavy snow and freezing temperatures.
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The death toll in New York City from Winter Storm Fern and the frigid temperatures in January included at least 16 people, and by Feb. 11, a city official confirmed to NBC New York the total number of cold weather-related deaths had reached at least 26 since the start of the year — including 19 people who were found outside in the sub-freezing temperatures.
“Each of these lives lost is a tragedy. My heart is with the family of those mourning their loved ones,” Mamdani stated at a press conference on Feb. 2, according to Gothamist.
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