Summer in the city can be hot, especially when compared to other areas.

But researchers at the City College of New York said temperatures in the city were 12-15 degrees higher than elsewhere last week. They said that's more than twice the average difference between city and country.

City College Professor Prathap Ramamurthy said it's important to address how buildings retain heat, especially for those living inside them.

"Outside temperatures could be a little bit cooler but the inside temperature when you're sitting in a house is extremely hot," he said. "So having better insulation or some technology that could affect heat being transmitted into the house are some of the ways we could engineer this problem out."

WNYC is participating in a project this summer to monitor indoor temperatures in Harlem, where experts say a confluence of factors make buildings their particularly susceptible to heat waves. Stakeholders in the project will meet in the fall to discuss the data gathered from the Harlem Heat Project.