America at 250: swifties and soccer fans turn up

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (0:00)
Can New York shake it off?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
This could be the hottest 4th of July since 2010 I have activated the city's heat emergency plan, and we will issue targeted warnings to protect vulnerable New Yorkers.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (0:13)
It's World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
I'm Vishala Sri Pathma. A sweltering New York braces for a perfect storm, a heat wave, the World Cup, a celebrity wedding, and the 4th of July weekend. But can businesses cope? Plus in Mexico, soaring ticket prices are putting matches beyond the reach of many local fans.
So it's a big weekend for businesses in the United States as the country celebrates its 250th birthday. In New York in particular, it's even bigger with the rumored wedding later today of Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelsey. And of course, there's the Football World Cup as well. But the weather is causing problems. 40 degree heat is pushing power usage to its limits with people being urged to reduce how much they use at certain times. And also the cost to buy electricity by the power grid is 68% higher than it was a year ago because of the demand. Well, the BBC's weather expert Ben Rich explained to us the risks this heat might be causing New Yorkers and other Americans.

**Ben Rich** (1:26)
Just a short time ago, the temperatures in Central Park and New York City were around 96 degrees Fahrenheit, so that's about 36 degrees Celsius. They'll climb a bit further than that through the rest of today. And on top of that, we've got humidity. So the air is very moist.
We combine the temperature with a level of humidity to come up with something called the heat index or the feels like temperature. And that is above 104 Fahrenheit, above 40 degrees Celsius and still rising right now. So really, really hot, really, really humid, very, very warm nights as well. It's a combination that makes things very, very uncomfortable and quite dangerous as well.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (2:04)
Yeah, so it's sort of a timely situation with particularly all these big events in New York and also beyond New York because it's the 4th of July weekend.

**Ben Rich** (2:14)
Yeah, absolutely. And it's going to cause, I think, some real problems for some of the celebrations over the weekend because we're looking at temperatures in quite a few cities across the East Coast, getting above that 100 Fahrenheit mark. Some places through this week have seen their hottest weather in well over a decade. With that humidity as well, that is what makes this so difficult.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (2:34)
And Ben, just before you go, what do people need to do in this sort of weather?

**Ben Rich** (2:39)
Well, it's the sort of weather where you obviously need to stay hydrated. That's the most important thing. Sweating with this high humidity is going to really struggle to cool you down. So you're going to sweat more because it's a struggle for that sweat to evaporate. So yes, keep hydrating lots and lots of water, as much fluid as you can take on. Seek shade, stay out of the sun in the hottest time of the day.
Check on vulnerable people. And if you've got air conditioning that you can be in, well, this is the time to be in it.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (3:08)
So that's some good advice there from Ben Rich, the BBC's weather expert. So how are businesses faring in that New York heat? Well, joining us now is Anne, who runs Hurley's Bar and Grill in New York. Hi, Anne.

**Anne** (3:22)
Hello, how are you?

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (3:23)
Very well. Thank you very much for joining us. We hear that you're very close to where the alleged Swift Kelsey celebrations are taking place.

**Anne** (3:33)
Yes, we are, but we're not near enough that is affecting our business. But I understand a lot of it's affecting business down by 34th Street, where we're on 48th. And the 7th Avenue Street has been blocked off and is affecting people traveling to New Jersey, Long Island, Penn Station, because the trains are all can't get into the station. So it's a little bit difficult for some people.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (3:56)
It's a very busy time in New York at the moment for all those events that we listed earlier on. How is business?

**Anne** (4:02)
Absolutely. Actually, business is amazing this time of year for us and for all the other bars and restaurant because of the World Cup and the Knicks were playing. So it's been an amazing couple of months. Normally, this time of year is very, very quiet. So this was a great welcome to businesses in New York City.