Quirky NYC art project finds subway stations with ‘feels like' temps well above 100 degrees: ‘It's unbearable'
A Queens-based artist and software developer is shedding light on the subway system — with a project showing temperatures regularly surpass 100 degrees at popular train stops across the city.
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@newyorklab.co
Dangerously hot in NYC subway stations #mta #nyc @MTA ♬ sonido original – New York Lab Jack Klein of the TikTok account New York Lab has recorded 'feels like' temperatures at New York City subway stations above 130 degrees Fahrenheit, including the 6th Avenue/14th Street L train station last week.
Jack Klein has been sharing his shocking findings with hundreds of thousands of viewers on TikTok as he treks underground with a thermometer to log 'feels like' temps, which hit a scorching high of 120 degrees at Union Square's during the recent heatwave.
'It's a very kind of visceral, shared experience among people living in New York — but it seems to be sort of under-reported and brushed off,' Klein told The Post of why he started his viral account, New York Lab, last August.
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'But in reality, it's like a public health issue that I think could be handled better.'
Klein, 30, said he spent nearly a thousand dollars on several Kestrel Drop 2 sensors to record heat index, temperature and relative humidity at subway stations after a brutal summer commute from Ridgewood to Hell's Kitchen last year.
5 From June 4 to June 8, one 181st Street station elevator's 'feels like' temperature was at 90 degrees or above more than 90% of the time, Klein said.
TikTok/@newyorklab.co
'There's no concrete data set about heat within train stations, and how heat travels [there],' he noted.
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But through his social media project, Klein has been able to show just how much New Yorkers are slow-cooking underground.
During June's heatwave, he logged the 120-degree 'feels like' high at Union Square, while Herald Square notched 112 degrees, and the mercury hit 111 degrees at the Dekalb Avenue L station.
5 While end goal is to be determined, Klein's independent New York Lab hopes the current project will inspire advocacy, art or simply start a conversation about climate change effects.
Michael Nagle
He recorded 'feels like' temps of above 130 degrees in front of an idling train at the 6th Avenue/14th Street L train station — even as the weather cooled off above ground last week.
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The Ohio native has also hidden smaller sensors around eight train stations – including one elevator in a 'notoriously hot area' – since May to collect long-term data.
'Some of the hottest places in New York City might actually be the underground elevators that our most vulnerable populations use to get in and out of train stations,' he said. 'I'm thinking about disabled people, or pregnant women or elderly people who are susceptible to heat exposure, that are being forced to take this elevator.'
5 'Some of the hottest places in New York City might actually be the underground elevators that our most vulnerable populations use to get in and out of train stations,' Klein said.
Stephen Yang
While the end goal of the endeavour is to be determined, he hopes the project will inspire advocacy, art or simply start a conversation.
But while social media users in the comments section appear shocked at the 100-plus readings, some New Yorkers seemed less surprised.
'During the day, especially in a heatwave, this place is an oven: It's unbearable,' Markus Achen, 39, of Flatiron, said of the Union Square station.
5 Some New Yorkers have to get creative to beat the heat underground.
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'Some days it gets so bad that I'll splurge on an Uber because I can't take the thought of standing on that platform and waiting for the train,' said Adanna Okafor, 26, of Crown Heights, whose regular station is Crown Heights-Utica Avenue.
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Another straphanger was more hard-boiled about the heat.
'To me, all the subway stations are equally hot in the summer – they're just hot, hellhole hot. But it's a part of living here,' said David White, 42, of Harlem, whose regular station is the 135th St 2 and 3 line.
5 Jack Klein 30, from Ridgewood, Queens has launched a quirky art project to find the hottest subway stations.
TikTok/@newyorklab.co
'It's like a rite of passage that you just have to live with.'
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Subterranean subway stations are oftentimes much hotter than their above-ground counterparts, according to Probable Futures, a climate literacy nonprofit that is helping Klein analyze his findings.
Reasons include underground infrastructure built with heat-trapping materials, lack of air flow and vegetation, human body heat and idling trains expelling hot air into a 'concrete box underground,' according to the group.
Alison Smart, executive director of Probable Futures, said Klein's project should serve as a wake-up call for New Yorkers, noting heat on the subway will likely only continue to increase due to climate change.
'The subway system needs to be prepared for multiple months of very high temperatures,' she said, noting the hellishly hot platforms could cause both human health problems and destroy the aging system's infrastructure — leading to even longer wait times underground.
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'The NYC subway system was designed for certain temperatures and certain weather conditions,' Smart said. 'Everything in civilization that we have built was designed and specified for a past climate, and that climate doesn't exist anymore.'
Some New Yorkers said it's on the MTA to fix the problem.
'It's like an oven,' Talia Muro, 28, of Midtown East said of the Herald Square stop. 'I would think it's an easy enough problem to fix to get some airflow, but maybe it's a money issue — I know the MTA is always complaining it never has enough money.'
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The MTA noted in its Climate Resilience Roadmap released in 2024 that it has improved air circulation on passenger platforms, and even started using white reflective paint to lower rail temperatures.
But the roadmap also outlined a $6 billion budget of future investments 'that will be needed to address climate change in the coming years.'
'The MTA will be looking to future capital programs to provide the funding to make the system resilient to heat and other climate threats,' the agency said at the time.
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