By Craig McCarthy, Hannah Fierick and Matt Troutman
Temperatures inside City Hall plunged as low as 54 degrees Thursday during the ongoing heat wave — despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani urging New Yorkers to set their air conditioners to a balmy 78, The Post found.
Sweaty Post reporters armed with an infrared thermometer tested 20 spots within City Hall and other municipal offices and buildings they were able to access — and all but five of them were below 78 degrees.
The “heat for thee, but not for me” revelation comes after Mamdani got roasted online Wednesday when he recommended New Yorkers set their AC to 78 degrees or higher to help avert potentially dangerous Con Edison power outages.
Most of the locations tested by The Post hovered a degree or two off the Mamdani-approved benchmark at around noon — two hours before Central Park hit 100 degrees for the first time in more than a decade.
But by 4:30 p.m., temperatures had plummeted even more in the mayor’s office building, with the air in one room testing at a sweater weather-worthy 54 degrees.
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Mamdani, while issuing his own recommendation, also contended city buildings would lead by example.
“Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment,” he posted on X.
