Mother Nature blow torched the Big Apple into the record books yesterday — firing up a Hades-like high of 103 degrees.
The old July 6 record of 101 degrees, set in 1999 in Central Park, melted away at 2:20 p.m., when the mercury soared to 102. About an hour later, it spiked at 103.
PHOTOS: NEW YORK CITY ENDURES RECORD-SETTING HEAT
“It feels like purgatory heat,” said Tracey Stevens, 23, of Brooklyn, as she walked along Fifth Avenue.
“In the subway, you can faint,” she said. “You got to go down there with a big thing of ice water or you’re done.”
The FDNY said that as of 10:30 p.m., ambulances had transported 70 people to hospitals for heat-related symptoms.
Also, more than a dozen firefighters were overcome by the heat battling a blaze in Queens yesterday morning.
Officials urged anyone planning to cool off by opening a hydrant to go to a firehouse or call 311 for a sprinkler cap.
Con Edison last night had to reduce voltage to some Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods because of cable problems.
Scattered outages affected more than 10,000 customers throughout the city and parts of Westchester. Hardest hit was Staten Island, where roughly 5,000 customers lost power at one point.
LIPA said 4,100 customers were out at 10:30 p.m.
Some searching for relief settled in one of the city’s 480 cooling centers.
“The bill for my air conditioning costs more than my rent. I had no choice but to come here,” said John Samuels, in his 60s, at a center in Greenwich Village.
Today will bring scant relief, with a projected high of 98, which will tie the record set in 1993, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Mike Pigott.
With additional reporting by Oliver Renick, Perry Chiaramonte, Colin Mixson and Rebecca Harshbarger