Hot weather changes how New Yorkers behave, inspiring people to search for new ways to cool off in the summertime. As one journalist observed during a 1925 hot spell, “the only relief” in the city “was in water, wherever it could be found.” Water—whether it’s the fountains, fire hydrants, rivers, outer-borough beaches, public baths (both floating and on land), or public pools—could transform a sizzling summer day into a cool afternoon. Source: “Nation’s Death List 300,” New York Times, June 7, 1925, 1.

A toddler eagerly drinks from the water fountain aboard the floating hospital ship, The Lloyd I. Seaman, in Upper New York Bay.