Committee on Fire and Emergency Management

Good morning. Welcome to the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management. At this time, we ask that you please silence all electronics. If you wish to fill out a appearance card, please see one of the sergeant-at-arms in the back, and at no point, please do not approach the dais. Chair, you may begin.

Good morning. I am Joanne Areola, and I am the chair to the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management. I would like to acknowledge members of the committee who are here, Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa, and we are also joined by Councilmember Sylvina Brooks Powers. Today's hearing will be an opportunity for the committee to examine emergency response response in the Rockaways and other geographically isolated communities in New York City.

A central component to a well-functioning city is a government— is a local government that prioritizes the prompt, effective, and efficient provision of emergency services to its residents. As Chair of the Committee, we have routinely examined how fire— the Fire Department and New York City Emergency Management and the city as a whole respond to emergency incidences, working to improve the city's delivery of emergency services, lower response times, and expand access to life-saving protection and care that is offered by our first responders each day.

As a lifelong resident of Queens, I take pride in representing the interests of the city's outer borough residents and have worked to tirelessly to ensure that vital city services are provided equally to New Yorkers throughout the 5 boroughs. Given the geographic expanse of our city, responding to emergency incidents in our far-reaching neighborhoods of our outer boroughs can present challenges for first responders and other city entities that provide support services at the scene of emergencies.

Today, we plan to examine how the city responds to emergencies in geographically remote areas. We will look at how first responders are deployed and stationed to ensure prompt emergency responses, and how the city ensures all New Yorkers receive emergency services promptly, regardless of where they live. Today's hearing will highlight an emergency incident that occurred this summer in Far Rockaway, Queens, in Councilmember Brooks-Pedersen's Powers' district.

Councilmember Powers will further speak about that, what happened in her community, and what her constituents experienced in the city's response. But I hope that we can use exploring this incident as a hands-on opportunity to work collaboratively to improve the city's functioning for all New Yorkers. I would also like to thank those from the public, as well as representatives From the administration, Commissioner Christina Farrell from New York City Emergency Management, Chief John Soracco from FDNY EMS, and Chief Paul Maiano from FDNY EMS.

You're here to provide information. CM Salam. Yep. CM Salam has also joined us. Is he— he's on Zoom. Okay. That's as far as we go. So at this point, I would like to defer to my colleague, Councilmember Brooks Powers, for her statement.

Thank you so much, Chair Areola, and I will keep it brief so that we can get into the heart of the questions. I'd like to first thank you, Chair, as well as the speaker, for quickly responding to the needs of my community in convening an important hearing such as this. As New York has seen much more regularly, there have been a number of weather events that have been happening, impacting communities, particularly coastal communities that have always been frontline, but even more inland.

And what sparked this particular request was the July 25th incident that happened where we saw 2 deaths. We had a number of families that were impacted, and the response felt very scattered and the resources very bare. And at that time, there was also a massive fire happening in the Bronx. And while we don't control when emergencies happen and where they happen, It raised the concern once again in terms of what type of resources exist for isolated, geographically isolated communities such as the Rockaways.

The FDNY, the EMTs, they have been tremendous to my community and their service to us. And quite frankly, I worry about them when they have to respond also to these crises because we depend on mainland resources to be able to get to us. When we talk about Red Cross and what services they provide, I think we need to revisit what, quite frankly, is sufficient in moments like this where we have dozens of families that end up being displaced and just being able to respond much more quickly.

And so I hope in the questions today we're able to identify where some of the gaps may be. that could spark either internal reform within these agencies and response divisions or prompt legislation on the council side to be able to provide the direction that may be needed. So again, I thank you for the opportunity, Chair, to bring this important conversation to the public.

Thank you. I now call on Will Hungash to administer the oath. Do you affirm to tell the truth and to answer honestly to all councilmember questions? Thank you. Commissioner.

Good morning, Chief Areola and members of the City Council. I'm Christina Farrell, Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management, and has been noted, I am joined today by Chief of EMS Paul Maiano and Assistant Chief of Fire Operations John Sieracco. It is our pleasure to be here today, on the final day of National Preparedness Month, to testify on the topic of emergency response in the Rockaways and other geographically isolated communities in New York City.

As you all know, this has been an exceptionally busy year for activations. So far this year, the Emergency Operations Center has been activated for 183 days, and the Flash Flood Plan for 90 days. This past weekend brought a nor'easter and associated heavy rains, wind gusts, and flooding into isolated communities such as the Rockaways, Arverne, and Howard Beach.

Emergency Management tracked this weather system for 4 days before the first raindrop fell, activated the Flash Flood Plan early, and scaled operations as the forecast worsened. During this time, We held 2 elected official calls, monitored 450 flood sensors in real time, sent 32 Notify NYC messages, worked with 39 strengthening community partners to reach more than 200,000 people in 12 languages, and received more than 1.8 million social media views and impressions.

Notify NYC now has more than 1.65 million subscribers, with 22,000 added just this weekend and more than 234,000 added since the start of the year. Enrollment in our Basement Apartments Alerts has grown nearly 30% this year to more than 8,000 New Yorkers. Our Instagram has grown by 38% this year, with over 5,000 new followers this past week.

This weekend, we delivered 51 flood barriers kits and 24 pump kits to residents in the Rockaways and Howard Beach. The Downed Tree Task Force was activated and received close to 2,700 requests, and much of the City Council was directly active with me and with our team through the duration of the emergency. As always, we thank you for your partnership and your assistance.

This year we also saw the second-longest cold snap in the City's history, Followed by some of the hottest temperatures and heat indices in the city's history during the July 4th holiday. As you know, we are still in hurricane season. Geographic isolation is a central factor in designing our hurricane evacuation zones. For example, while the entire Rockaways Peninsula may not be completely inundated by storm surge, we classify the entire area as Zone 1.

The isolation and limited access routes lead us to treat these areas as special cases to ensure residents remain safe, even if not directly impacted by a particular hazard. There are similar considerations taken into effect for other geographically isolated areas of the city, such as Roosevelt Island, City Island, Coney Island, and parts of Staten Island.

One of the most heartbreaking incidents that city agencies respond to are incidents when New Yorkers are forced to leave their homes, whether the result of a fire, flood, or structural issues. During larger incidents, like multi-alarm fires or large vacates, Emergency Management will respond and support immediate sheltering of residents. Often this involves opening a nearby public school or dispatching an MTA bus where residents can remain out of the elements and register for services with the Red Cross, including a hotel placement.

Emergency Management uses triggers and protocols to respond to requests for sheltering assistance. These were developed to ensure we respond to incidents with a need for interagency coordination on scene, based on the likelihood of a multi-agency response and the complexity of these types of incidents. While the majority of fire calls are handled locally by FDNY resources, We respond to the following: 1-alarm fires in a sensitive location, such as schools, houses of worship, or city properties; 2-alarm fires in residential properties; 3-alarm fires and above; any fire with 2 or more fatalities; any fire where we have been requested by FDNY, Buildings, NYPD, or any other agency to provide interagency coordination at the scene.

These fires usually involve requests for utility shutoffs or repairs, or overcrowding and squatting conditions. Emergency Management citywide incident coordinators will also lead on-scene meetings with relevant agencies and landlords to identify immediately needed resources, such as large-scale equipment or food and water, and any need for additional public messaging. In addition to our city resources, the Red Cross monitors public safety communications and responds to all fires that reach 1 alarm and above.

On a daily basis, the Red Cross responds to vacate situations across the city to register New Yorkers and provide them with temporary hotel placement. Additionally, if Emergency Management responds to a fire that is likely to displace residents, We will notify the Red Cross to ensure they are also responding. Once registered with them, displaced residents are placed in a hotel for 2 nights.

Residents are then referred to HPD for longer-term case management assistance if they qualify for the HPD shelter system.

Emergencies and disasters can strike at any moment, which is why Emergency Management is proud to offer several programs to help New Yorkers' readiness and resilience. The Strengthening Communities Program offers grants to community networks to build their emergency preparedness plan and provide information to their neighbors during time of emergency. These networks were activated during winter weather and extreme heat and play a significant role in flood preparedness.

The Far Rockaway-Arverne Nonprofit Coalition, or FRANC, has been part of Strengthening Communities since the program launched in 2021. Frank provides various community programs and youth development programs within Far Rockaway and has connections with faith-based congregations throughout the community. We will have an open application in October for additional networks throughout the city, and we'll work with the council to help amplify this opportunity when these applications open.

Additionally, Emergency Management recently expanded its Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT program, by delivering a local basic training in Far Rockaway, adding 39 community residents to a volunteer corps of more than 640 members citywide. Since its launch in 2003, New York City CERT has grown to 24 divisions covering all 59 community boards, and it remains a critical resource in supporting New York City during and after disasters.

Building on that momentum, CERT members are conducting community canvassing through the end of October to share preparedness tips on coastal storms and flooding with residents in at-risk neighborhoods. Emergencies affect every community differently, but we work with all communities to be prepared. We want to thank the council as well for helping us with these measures, from amplifying our messaging to being cooling center partners to helping us distribute masks during air quality alert days. to being active with CERT.

We greatly appreciate your partnership and assistance. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. We look forward to working with the council, and we are happy to answer your questions.

Thank you so much, Commissioner, and thank you for the coordination over this nor'easter in, in my district and in the coastal districts. You really did an amazing job of putting together all the other agencies and making sure that everyone was safe and informed, and the public was informed. So we really thank you for that. I would just like to mention that we have been joined by Councilmembers Maloney and Pierina Sanchez.

I'm going to ask 2 questions regarding legislation, and then I'm going to yield to Councilmember Brooks Powers, because I know she has some questions specific to the Rockaway Peninsula. So for NYSEM, with regard to Local Law 60 of 2025, NYSEM is required to develop guidance for facilitating safe evacuation before flash flooding emergencies. Has this guidance been developed, and if so, can you please describe the specifics for the committee?

Yes, so we definitely have guidance. We happily, this past weekend, did not result in an evacuation situation, but, you know, nor'easters can. In addition, we have had several as everyone knows, flash flooding events over the summer. And so we are— we have worked with our partners, you know, as we do our coordination. As you mentioned, we do things like a Red Cross call-down in case we do need to look for hotel rooms.

We also partner— people may have seen over the summer, 3 times we opened safe overnight locations in 51 schools, one in each district. That's great. in case people that live in basement apartments or in low-lying areas need a place to go. Several residents took us up on that, and that is something that we are codifying further. And for the FDNY, with regard to Local Law 134 of 2025, the law also requires FDNY to distribute the, the guide at the scene of residential fires using a quick response or QR code posted on FDNY vehicles.

Has the QR code been posted on the vehicles, and if so, how many or the percentage of the fleet have been completed or started? Thank you for that question. Yeah, we have posted QR codes. As far as the data, the amount, I don't have that information, but we have started that process a while ago over the last year of posting QR codes. on a fire apparatus so victims of fires can scan it and get information regarding the Red Cross.

You have, let's see, all vehicles that are involved in fire response have them. So all the vehicles in the Fire Department on the fire operation side does have QR codes on their apparatus. And that's a lesson to have for the community? Yes.

Councilmember? Thank you, Chair. And just echoing the Chair, definitely want to thank you, Commissioner, for being so responsive to my text messages throughout the nor'easter. So, yes, as I mentioned before, on July 25th, there was an alleged double homicide and fire in Far Rockaway, Queens. Surrounding homes were evacuated and families were displaced. Can you walk us through July 25th from the 911 call moment to the moment the last displaced family had a bed that night?

Just wanting to know, like, for example, what time NYSEM was actually activated and notified and what resources arrived as a— in response to that. Sure. So we were made aware of the fire but did not initially respond, is my understanding. Then as the situation evolved, as many of these situations do, later that evening there was outreach to us, I believe initiated by your office and others in the community, and so we did send one of our seasoned citywide incident coordinators out there to get an update on what the situation was.

Once he got situational awareness, it was indeed— he determined that the Red Cross should be there. It's my understanding that the Red Cross was dispatched earlier since it was an active crime scene and there were other things going on. They were not dispatched by the city? able to access the property earlier in the day, but Red Cross did come that evening, and they did begin to register folks.

There were— I think the power had been cut and some other things, so they registered some people in surrounding properties. There were also a couple residents that I understand had relocated temporarily to Staten Island or other places, and so they tracked— They were in the area. them down and saw what assistance they needed and got people into hotels that evening.

Thank you for that. And I'm going to come back to a part of this that I'd like to unpack a bit more, but can you tell me how many households and individuals were displaced and where did each spend their first night? I don't have their specific information. You know, things like specific hotels and things are kept private.

The geography is fine, like you said, somewhere in Staten Island, for example, but how many families were displaced and individuals? My understanding is that 22 adults and 7 children, obviously representing multiple households, received temporary lodging And there were a few animals too. I don't have that information, but often there are pets that the Red Cross works to find pet-friendly hotels.

Now, when the 911 call came in and the initial response happened, was NYSEM or City Hall made aware that it was not only a fire, but that there was a shooting that took place with multiple people injured or Killed? I— so one alarm fires unless, like I said at the beginning, unless it's a sensitive location, we don't routinely deploy to those.

You know, our watch command is 24/7. This was a Saturday, right? Folks were working. They will definitely give a— what we call a monitor page. to myself and other members on call of the executive team so we know what's going on, but the actual initial response and what was going on with PD and Fire, we were not part of that.

Yeah, because I was wondering the disconnect because earlier in the day I believe the mayor had a press conference and he acknowledged what was happening in Rockaway, but on the ground we didn't feel the response. Obviously FDNY and PD were there, but in terms of like an effort to address the crisis in that moment on the ground at the magnitude that was felt by the people impacted, that was not present.

I know there was a family, there's a mom with 5 children who lived upstairs in that house. And they felt, quite honestly, and were hostages Because of course it's a crisis. No one knows who's who at that initial moment. And so for a very long time, her and her kids were pretty much not permitted to leave their apartment upstairs, having to step over blood and dead bodies thereafter.

And to this day, that constituent has felt like there has not been enough done. for her and her family in terms of dealing with the trauma or treating them as the victims of what transpired there that had nothing to do with her or her family. What, I guess, resources are in play for moments like this? And what is the city's responsibility?

I will have to get— so Obviously, at the beginning, it was a police investigation. And then, as you mentioned, I know that Red— when Red Cross does get involved, you know, they do do some mental health counseling and look at things like that. You know, any type of impacted resident services and things, those are not things that emergency management is usually involved in, as we're focused on, you know, the utilities and all of those pieces.

But You know, obviously the trauma and the things that come along with this are serious and life-changing, as you said. So we can go back and look exactly who the right person is to follow up on that question. I'd appreciate that.

In terms of communication and follow-up, that was a good segue. What is the protocol for notifying the other agencies and partners involved in recovery? So like the Red Cross, HPD, The Mayor's Office of Housing Recovery, Department of Social Services, and others after a fire with displacement and what triggers each notification and who sends it? So if it's a larger— and as you noted, there was a large— another large fire going on, I think almost at the same time, which many of our resources We have, as you probably know, we're a lot smaller than our partners at FDNY, NYPD, and others.

On a typical Saturday afternoon, we probably had 3 citywide incident coordinators working, also doing things like monitoring the drones at the beaches and things like that. So, you know, we have limited resources, just the nature of the way we're set up. across the agency. Since we did not initially respond to this fire, we, you know, the Red Cross notification, as I said, they did initially respond.

That would go through Housing Preservation and Development. Once things were needed later on, when our CIC went out there, that's when we would do those notifications. Mm-hmm. If it's something that we initially respond to, say, like a 3-alarm fire or more, those notifications and the requests, you know, Councilwoman Sanchez knows there was a significant fire in her district a week ago, and buildings was requested, Con Ed was requested, HPD, Mayor's Office of Engagement.

So depending on the number of units, you know, the likelihood that there is going to be a vacate We will pull in our partners. To that point, because I know in talking to Red Cross that night, there were certain decisions that they couldn't make unless it came from HPD, for example. And I'm not sure if through NISIM they communicate because it's an emergency there or if the regular channels have to kind of communicate during normal business hours. per se, in the sense of making certain calls.

So like, in their mind, the fire has been handled, they can go into their home. But then it was an active crime scene. Mm-hmm. And so they could not go back into their home. But there was a disconnect with each— with Red Cross, and they could not take that directive from NYPD. Do you feel that there should be a different, I guess, communication stream in moments like this where maybe it runs through NYSOM since you're connecting all the agencies in these moments of crisis?

So the contract with HPD and Red Cross is for vacates and usually outside of the fire investigation, which can, of course, result in criminality. But usually these vacates that they respond to and that they put people into hotels, they're based on, you know, fires that make a house uninhabitable or an apartment building, things like extended power outages and water service outages through a water main break or other situations.

So this situation, as we've mentioned, was different in that, you know, it was primarily a police scene, and that is not what this contract is set up for. Mm-hmm. Red Cross was able to house these families. It didn't— they didn't do it through the Red Cross— the HPD contract. It's my understanding that they had other funding. private funding that they used, that they can use on limited occasions.

But this is really a different type of incident than what the Red Cross contract is set up for, which is more, you know, the typical fires and the things that come with those vacates. Because also the power was out. And so in terms of the connection from PSEG, that communication, To the— to HPD, to Red Cross, that communication tree wasn't happening either.

Yeah, so I mean, I think, you know, we can always do a better job of communicating. You know, one thing I am happy to say is that we actually in July received funding for 10 additional citywide incident coordinators, city tax levy funding. and for 5 part-time citywide incident coordinators, because we do have people that are retired and would like to come back.

And so that will greatly increase our resources, because again, if we have 3 people working citywide, you know, that gets very— you know, they get very busy very quickly. So we are excited to have these additional resources, and then as they are in place, we could potentially explore, but I don't want to promise that we can be involved in every one of these incidents when we are really coordinating for those larger incidents.

Thank you. I'm going to yield. I have a few more questions, but I'm yielding to the Chair. Thank you.

So it's interesting because we're talking about a fire that then became a crime scene. So for the FDNY, what is the FDNY protocol to respond to a fire when it May also involve a crime scene? Well, we, when we respond and we, we're aware from the dispatcher that there may be a shooting there, we respond with caution, but we still respond and we're there to put that fire out.

So we don't want to put our people in undue danger, but in those situations we would respond with caution. And we would request NYPD response to that location along with us. So there's a coordination between NYPD, NYSEM, and FDNY? Absolutely. We would, we would, in that situation, when our dispatchers know there is a shooter or shooting, they will notify NYPD simultaneously.

Okay, wonderful.

I just want to make note that Councilmember Palladino has joined us, and also we're joined by students from NYU. We welcome you to the hearing, and we're glad that you're interested to come and view and see what goes on here. You'll see council members coming and going from this hearing because there are other hearings going on that they are members of those committees as well.

So I just want to— and if you have any questions, happy to answer them after the hearing. But I'm very glad that you're showing an interest. Thank you so much. Thank you. Data from the city reflects geographic disparities in emergency response times, specifically in isolated communities, showing longer response times in areas such as Breezy Point and the Rockaway Peninsula.

My question is, how does the department— fire department— explain such dramatic changes in response times in certain neighborhoods as opposed to others, and what is the department doing to address this issue? What is your data on the response time? My data shows that in the Rockaways, we respond pretty well. The 47th Battalion is the battalion that's in the Rockaways, and they are— there's only 5 battalions out of the 49 that respond quicker.

On the peninsula, we have 6 units and 6 engines and 3 trucks, including— we do put in service a BFU, which is a brush fire unit. Those units are all water rescue trained. We do in the summertime also put a summer boat program in play where we patrol the beach with that and also drones. So in my view, we respond pretty well to the Rockaways.

Those units are all must-fill units. So for example, if somebody's out for training in the Rockaways, we replace replace them with another unit, so it's always covered because of its isolation. So I think we do overall on the fire ops side an excellent job of covering that peninsula. My data shows our response times are pretty good in the Rockaways.

Right, so that's with fire response. What about EMS response? So similarly, for EMS, our response times are lower than the average citywide response times in the Rockaways. We do have one station on the Rockaways that's co-located with an engine company. It houses 10 units, 10 EMS units. 7 of them are BLS units, 3 of them are advanced life support units, and of those 10 units, 2 of them are also members of our Special Operations Command.

They're hazardous materials ambulances. Also, during the summer, we put out 2 gator units on the beaches in the Rockaways and We work very closely with the Fire Department's drone unit on those beaches to be able to respond quicker. And sticking with EMS, what is the current headcount for EMS? How has it increased or decreased over the past few years, and how has that impacted response times?

The current headcount for EMS, the exact number, I I don't have written down, but I could tell you that we are below headcount of approximately 400 members. In regards to response times, that does mean less ambulances on the street. However, we have what we call the Central Resource Coordination Center, and that is a 24-hour staff center that consistently looks at ambulance availability throughout the city. and deploys ambulances from areas that have a large amount of availability into areas that have reduced availability so we can maintain our response times.

I want to talk about a specific incident that happened on Monday, September 28th. A 14-year-old young man, student at St. Francis Preparatory High School, started to show signs of a stroke almost immediately upon entering school. He was slurring his words, his right and left eye began to droop, his right eye and arm and leg became weak and unstable.

This student is known— is a known cardiac patient. The nurse immediately called 911. The first call to 911 was made at 8:47 a.m. The second call was made at 9:14 a.m. And the third call was made at 9:22 a.m. As the parents rushed to the school upon hearing that FDNY had not yet responded with an ambulance, the child's father called 911 also at 9:22 a.m.

Still no ambulance responded. The mother arrived at the school at 9:22. And calls were made. When after 5 minutes there was still no response, she took the child and rushed him to the hospital in her own car without a paramedic, without an EMT treating her severely ill child. Why did the FDNY not respond to these frantic calls for help?

So first off, I just want to say that this is an extremely tragic situation. I am a father myself of 3 boys, and I could not imagine what those parents were going through at the school. What I can tell you is at the time that this call was coming in, EMS was experiencing a 100-plus call surge than what we normally see.

We normally see about 179 calls per hour, and during this hour that this assignment took place, we had a call volume of 274 calls for service into 911. An ambulance was Dispatched to this call. The ambulance was coming from a distance. They did arrive at the location, but they did arrive after the parents left to take the child to the hospital.

How long after? They actually arrived at 9:37, and it's believed that the child left to go to the hospital 5 minutes prior to that. So you were holding about 274 calls, right? We received 274 calls, which was about 100 above the normal at that time. Do you think that the disconnect was due to a lack of staffing or an EMS dispatcher was not available to speak to the caller?

So when someone calls 911, they initially talk to a police dispatcher. That police dispatcher asks questions, police, fire, EMS. When it is determined that it is a request for EMS service, it is transferred from NYPD to EMS. When there are no EMS alarm receiving dispatchers available, the NYPD dispatcher stays on the line, takes additional information, and then routes that call to EMS.

So the call itself is not lingering. It is in the EMS system. The system did, throughout this whole period of time, note that it was searching for ambulances, searching for ambulances, searching for ambulances, but due to the surge in calls that we had at that time, we had none available. As soon as an ambulance became available, the system the system alerted the radio dispatcher who then dispatched the ambulance to the location.

And like I said, they were coming from a distance and they did arrive at the scene, but unfortunately it was after the parent had left. And was there any notification back from 911 to the people who called saying, you know, there is a delay, we're holding, you know, we got an influx of calls, it'll be a matter of 15, 20, 25 minutes before an ambulance gets there.

Was that done? No. So there is no system in place where we advise the caller that there is a, you know, that an ambulance is delayed or will be an extended period of time before they arrive. So basically what you're saying is that a child who is a cardiac patient showing signs of a stroke was put into a system as an unknown condition.

Is that how it went into the system? That's correct. That's how it went into the system. And instead of a Level 1, which is the most serious of conditions, as it should have been coded, because of the lack of staffing for EMS and for the dispatchers at that moment, it was not put in as a Level 1.

Right. So first, the dispatch center was staffed adequately at that time for that time in the morning. The dispatch center does have staggered staffing in. to meet our call volume throughout the day and during high periods of demand. So we did have the proper amount of ARDs in that would be answering the phone for what the typical call volume would be for that day.

There were 26 alarm receiving dispatchers in at that time. Had this call been triaged by EMS, a series of questions would have been asked and the dispatcher would have entered this information into the system and the computer triage would have would have categorized this differently than an unknown. What category, based on the answers to the questions that the caller gave, I can't predetermine what it would be without asking those questions and getting the answers and inputting them.

But it would have most likely been classified as one of the— one of an incident that would have been around a Segment 3, which is a higher priority than an unknown, which is a Segment 4. But the reality is it never did get to an FDNY dispatcher. That's correct. It did not get to an EMS dispatcher. However, it was in the system to be dispatched.

At no time does any call get lost in the system. When we are unable to reach an EMS dispatcher, NYPD does put it into the system, and the system and the dispatchers are consistently looking for ambulances to respond to those calls. But there was no dispatcher that answered that could and then further ask questions and realize that this was a level 1.

And so, but it wasn't just 1 call, it was 4 calls that a dispatcher did not respond to and did not get further information for this child. So, so how many people do you estimate fall into this category where they are in the system A dispatcher has not gotten any additional information and lives could be at risk because those questions were not asked so that they could properly categorize them and get an ambulance there.

I understand and appreciate your question, and it's very difficult for me to come up with a number. What I can tell you is that we strive to meet 100% of the calls that come into 911 for request a service for an ambulance. Okay, so please just let me be clear. This scenario is happening across the city, right?

And we just had a hearing recently where the 911 system was down for 7 hours and there was no response and no notification. This boy not only was one of the calls for help for a life-threatening symptom, but He went into a dispatch abyss, which is very important. Even though it was searching, the system was searching, they had— the system is a computerized system that doesn't know the severity of what this child was going through.

And his parents had to put him into a car in critical condition because he was in the abyss. And so far, we're— we've done nothing to fix this issue. And it's not just this administration. It's administrations going back decades that this is happening. And— but I would like it to be fixed. But what I see is it's just consistently getting worse because we're not really looking at what the problem is, which is a lack of retention for our EMS workers because they're not getting paid enough to stay.

So right now you're at a deficit for your EMS team because you just had a promotional exam— I'm sorry, promotional ceremony. So you lost 25% of your workforce and the next class has not come out yet. Have you requested mutual aid from other counties or cities to make up for the lack of EMS staffing like you did during the July 4th weekend?

So at this time we have not requested mutual aid. So our mutual aid policy is, the way our mutual aid policy works is that when we have planned events like we did for 4th of July at FIFA, you know, and the events that were going on throughout the city, we made those requests earlier in the year because we were able to predict that that was going to happen and we wanted to try and bolster up our system so we didn't have a lack of service.

Another way our mutual aid works is that when the system is overwhelmed, and we reach a service level of less than 25% for a sustained period of time, a long sustained period of time, which we generally use 24 hours as the mark, we would then make the request for mutual aid. As of now, while we do have peaks, we have not hit that point of sustained under 25% for that period of time.

What we do do, I'm sorry, what we do do is when we do do know that those are happening, we contact our volunteer agencies that are in the city, we contact our partners at REMSCO, at Greater New York, and we ask our voluntary partners who are here within the city to assist us and try and put out additional ambulances to try and put more units into the system.

Right, so why wouldn't a mutual aid call go out knowing that you have, knowing in advance that you were going to lose 25% of the workforce to FDMY Probie School, and then also waiting for the next class to go out, wouldn't that be something that would trigger you asking for a mutual aid for that small period of time before the next class comes out?

Again, it's based on the demand on the system. So if the demand on the system is low and it doesn't require or meet that 25% over a sustained duration period of time, we wouldn't make the request So is 274 calls that came in in that hour, does that meet the demand? So for that period of time, it would have.

And then later on in the day, it evened out, like it balanced out later on. It didn't even out for this young man. You are 100% correct. His parents are now sitting at an ICU bedside hoping for the best for their child.

Do you consider New York State to be in a state of emergency when it comes to medical response times and for EMS staffing? So I believe that EMS staffing across the country has been dealing with an issue of— I just want to talk about New York. We're talking about right here. So in New York, we do have an issue with retention.

We do have an issue with headcount. I can tell you that since day one, the Commissioner has hit the ground running, and we have been trying to do our very best. Our administration that we have in the fire department, our commissioner, our first deputy commissioner, our chief of department, myself, we care very much about EMS, right? A lot of us come from the background of EMS.

We have familiarity with EMS, and we care. We do the job because we care about the citizens and the visitors to New York. We have been tirelessly making attempts to try and better the system, and we will continue doing that every single day. recruiting people? So besides holding EMS classes, what other steps are being taken? And before you answer the question, I just want you to understand that as a committee and as a chair, we're in constant contact with the commissioner, with the chiefs, and we understand 100% that you're operating under duress on the fire side and especially on the EMS side.

So that I want to make clear. We understand that you're you're operating under duress. It's our job to make that duress end. It's our job to make sure that the people in this city are safe and that young men that are going through critical— and he can't be the only one. It's not just him, right? It's other people too that are dying because— or having to be brought to the hospital by other means and getting there later than they should and treated later than they should.

So I want to make— I want to bring this to the attention of the public so they can understand the need for this administration to really focus on EMS and on FDMY, but specifically EMS, to make sure that they are getting a living wage so that you can retain people in EMS and you can put more ambulances on the street.

Right. Because without EMS workers, there, or them leaving for better jobs, whether it's the fire department or the DOT or the sanitation or to the private sector, you can't put the ambulances out. And if the ambulances can't get out, they can't get to Arverne, and they're not getting to Breezy Point. But this is Queens. This is central Queens.

Central Queens. And couldn't get an ambulance there. And that's a problem. So I'm going to leave it there and defer to my— to see if any of my colleagues have questions.

Oh, I'm sorry. I see our public advocate is here, and he did want to make a statement. Please, public advocate.

Thank you so much. Peace and blessings, love and light to everyone. Thank you for allowing me to read my opening statement in the middle of the hearing. I appreciate that. It's okay, don't worry. No, I'm sorry, I was at 26 Federal Plaza. But this is really important, that's why I wanted to make sure I was here, because we get complaints from a lot of these communities.

So good morning. As mentioned, my name is Jumaane Williams, Public Advocate of the City of New York. I want to thank Chair Areola, as well as members of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to share testimony. Certain New York City neighborhoods that are geographically isolated, including parts of Staten Island, City Island, Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Red Hook, and the Rockaways, Face heightened overlapping risks during climate emergencies.

Many of these areas' vulnerabilities stem largely from structural limitations or critical infrastructure needs. These communities face frontline climate exposures, meaning that they tend to bear the brunt of coastal storms and may rely on single bridges or narrow causeways for emergency access. Severe weather events in New York City, such as the late September 2026 nor'easter, have routinely triggered localized flooding up to 3 feet, causing power disruptions and trapping residents who rely on local utilities like Con Edison.

Though geography impacts, excuse me, transit in many cities, data tracked by New York City's Emergency Management, NYSEM, and the New York City Fire Department, FDNY, show that traffic density, staffing shortages, and high call volumes inflate response times for more than phys— far more than just physical distance. Furthermore, the events of August 2026 demonstrated the city's vulnerability to widespread emergency system failures, revealing how whole disruptions to 911 calls to services can occur.

Although the city has taken steps to safeguard local businesses and residents against the escalating impacts of climate change, further action is absolutely necessary to enhance our emergency response frameworks to ensure priority assistance reaches geographically isolated communities. In order to mitigate transit issues during extreme weather events, the MTA and NYSEM pre-stage diesel locomotives, high-water rescue vehicles, and utility pumps inside isolated zones before storms make landfall to keep emergency corridors operational.

Yet, because isolated areas are not routinely designated or integrated as emergency corridors, local residents and businesses cannot often find— can often find themselves trapped, unable to evacuate or effectively combat incoming very forceful winds and rising floodwaters. As many of us have learned over the recent years, severe weather conditions cause widespread damages to all types of personal properties Following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New York City received more than $14 billion in federal aid to fund various municipal initiatives and recovery projects, a number of which remain active today to support households, commercial entities, and damaged infrastructures.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy underscores the critically— critical necessity of establishing a resilient long-term emergency response strategy specifically designed for New York City's geographically isolated neighborhoods. During the storm, public housing suffered severe disruption as floodwaters impacted 10% of NYCHA developments, leaving nearly 400 buildings without electricity, heat, or hot water. In the years following Sandy, New York has confronted the reality that reliance on federal aid may not always be dependable, particularly amid disagreements with the Trump administration.

Consequently, it is vital that we actively collaborate to devise innovation— innovative solutions that safeguard our coastal areas and shorelines. This approach ensures we maintain our standing as a global hub while advancing key local initiatives, including the revitalization of city waterways, And working ports such as the Hunts Point Marine Terminal in the Bronx and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Red Hook.

And as you can hear, obviously, these emergencies stem even when there is not climate-related emergencies. And I just want to attach myself to the words that talk about EMS, that they definitely need more pay so we can have retention. It's really important. And the need for a trauma hospital in Rockaway. as they have been asking one for a long time, and the response time there as well has been problematic.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Councilmember Brooks-Powers. Thank you, Chair. And I'm going to try to make— excuse me— the last few questions as tight as I can. I have some for FDNY. Under Local Law 134 residential fire emergency response guides, are required to be provided to affected residents and distributed via QR code on FDNY vehicles and at post-fire inspections.

Residents did not report seeing any QR codes. How does the FDNY confirm that the distribution actually took place? We do targeted outreach. And for July 25th specifically, I'm I'm sorry. Well, we do targeted outreach that those QR codes with our, with our, they're just on the rigs mostly, but we do, people are told that through our fire safety education, those QR codes are available on the rigs, on the apparatus, in certain locations.

There's specific locations where we put them. Also, at the scene of any fire, We also, you know, can call our dispatchers and have Red Cross respond to any incident that if we feel that people are in need of shelter or if there's a fire and they can't re-enter their building. So those are some of the things that we do to get the word out that we can, that information can be disseminated to the people in your community.

Thank you.

And Commissioner, in terms of just going back to Something we were speaking about earlier with respect to the resources and services such as trauma-informed mental health support offered to families that are displaced after an incident like what took place on July 25th. What could we do better? going forward to be able to address a moment of crisis such as what we experienced?

Yeah. Like I said, we always are looking at ways that the city as a whole and then specific agencies, nonprofit partners can improve services. I know that the Red Cross and the NYPD are following up to talk about specific, you know, incidents that are more violence-related. and potentially less within emergency management's purview. But as we also work with Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and other agencies, and so after this hearing, I'm going to go back and speak to our folks and to our partners and just, you know, see what additional things can be brought in, what agencies can be brought to bear.

Thank you. So we will follow up once we have those discussions. I appreciate that.

And the 10 additional coordinators that you all are hiring, will any of them be designated for the geographically isolated communities like Rockaway, like Staten Island? So what we do with our citywide incident coordinators, and it depends, like this weekend, you know, we had more folks working because of the hazards we were facing. What we do when we have sufficient resources and when we have a storm or other things coming is that we will borough deploy our staff.

So they will, at a minimum, if we have 5 people working, we can have one work out of each borough. So— But even with the, like, one out of each borough, with the exception of Staten Island, because it's not, like, broken off from another part of the same borough, but, like, the Rockaway, Broad Channel, Breezy Point area, the way we are situated, I think it would be helpful.

And really Southeast Queens. Mm-hmm. It would be good to have one designated, even though you have one for the borough, because realistically to get from Astoria to Rockaway takes an extremely long time just in general to get to— I tease Councilmember Thomas-Henry all the time. She calls Far Rockaway far, far, far Rockaway, and all of her kids say that to me as well.

But it's really the rest of the city that's far from us. And so, you know, wanting to make sure that we have the coverage that we need, it would be great. So I am advocating for that as you determine placement of these coordinators.

And going back to Red Cross, Because I will say I was deeply disappointed with the Red Cross that day. And that was not the first time in a moment of crisis. And I know that they are contract-bound in some instances. So really just wanting to know if an agreement could be put in place, whether it's through NYSOM or HPD, When Red Cross does not have the bandwidth and capacity, who then comes in?

Because when we called that night to have them come back, because you're right, they came earlier, they left, they didn't really do any triaging, but they did when they came back after 11 PM that night. And the reason they came so late was one, the fire was going on. They had no more resources to send to us. geographically, it takes over an hour to get from the part of the Bronx they were to the part of Far Rockaway they needed to get to.

And so does the city currently have a backup to the Red Cross, or is this something we could explore to having a backup or revisiting what their contract entails? So I will just say 2 things. On your earlier point, you know, when we borough deploy our CICs, we look at where the most likely hazards are. So for example, this weekend, Our CIC that was working in Queens was in your neighborhoods, in Far Rockaway, you know, driving, working within that area.

So we do do that based on, you know, as we see things coming in. With respect to the Red Cross, you know, that contract is one where we look at hoteling, and I'm sure you both are familiar because it has happened during different times if there are not— because a lot of what they do is also based on the hotel room availability.

Mm-hmm. You know, some times are busier than others. The summer obviously was very busy. Last week was busy with United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week. And so if what's needed to house people, if the demand outstrips the supply, we would— we then look at congregate sheltering. which means setting up a shelter in a, most likely a school building or another facility like that.

So that is what we do when we don't have the resources available. But just like, you know, with the Red Cross, we are always looking at ways. And, you know, by and large, I'm— you probably know their model is based on volunteers responding to many of their incidents. Mm-hmm. 24/7. And so they really do a fantastic job getting to all of these scenes.

But it's a very large city. There are a lot of incidents that come. And I know this is one they're specifically looking at to see how they can improve response.

And I don't think me or the chair would be doing our job if we didn't bring up, like, the trauma hospital need on the peninsula. So I know it was mentioned that the response has been good comparatively to the city. Which many of the firefighters live in our community, in my building and all around, and EMT as well.

And we value them and the work that they do. But I'm always going to fight for more resources for both FDNY and EMT because what I hear on the ground has been that, particularly since Peninsula Hospital has closed, Several years ago, the response times have increased compared to what they once were. There are moments where we don't have an ambulance on the peninsula because if there's a trauma incident, they have to go out to Cohen's or to Jamaica Hospital and they get called in that area.

It takes even longer to come back to the peninsula. So I think for us it's important to hear because When we talk about the trauma hospital, we're talking about stopping the bleeding, trying to save a life. But there are other important components to even getting to the hospital. And that includes often your division, your part of the city agencies.

And so I would like to hear from you in terms of How the city could better provide, like, work to address the need of the peninsula? And I know that's difficult for you to answer in your positions, but as truthfully as you can under oath. So for EMS, if you just— if I just take one second before I answer that question, I just want to say that we as EMS, we hear the City Council.

We hear this committee and we appreciate you lobbying for us the way that you do. We appreciate your help to get us a command car as well as other members of the Council. So that being said, you know, we hear it, we feel it, and we greatly appreciate it. As I said earlier, with our Central Resource Coordination Center, right, we are consistently looking at areas where there are low ambulance availability and moving things throughout the city.

One thing that we have done within the last few months was we have what we call a redeployment. We changed the way we redeploy ambulances. So now an ambulance that leaves the peninsula to go to another hospital, when they come available out of that other hospital, they are put in what's called a relocation status, and that allows them to get back to the peninsula, and they do not get called for low acuity assignments.

They only get called if they are the closest ambulance to a high acuity assignment like a cardiac arrest. So that's one way that we are, besides the 24-hour center looking and redeploying units in, that is one way that we've made an improvement very recently to our CAD system to be able to, it's automatic. This is not something that has to be done by a person.

It is automatic. They come available out of that hospital and they are put on redirection back to that area. Thank you for that update.

And then also I've heard from like some of the other houses that when we have, I guess it may be like a 3 alarm that triggers like more support that's needed on the peninsula, like we're pulling from like Howard Beach, we're pulling from Springfield Gardens, which then is leaving those communities without their personnel. Is it a staffing issue why we don't have just more people located on the peninsula?

Like how is that determined in terms of How many trucks, how many personnel are based there? Yeah, I mean, I've used it so far. Fire or EMS question? Well, both can answer really, but because I've heard it from both that we drain, not to say drain, but we use other houses' resources when we have a certain level happening on the peninsula.

So obviously I'll let Chief Sarracco speak about the fire side, but for EMS, right, we look at the average call volume in in a particular area and we staff to try and meet that, that call volume. So that's why we have 10 ambulances that's located on the peninsula. Regarding fire operations, if there's a fire on the peninsula, obviously we'll relocate other units from other areas in there to cover a possible other fire in that same area, and we do backfill those positions from other areas.

Obviously we're spreading ourselves thinner out, but that's how we do it via the relocation process. And that's the point I was getting to, like the thinning out piece. So like, what is that sweet number where it's sufficient but it's not feeling like you're kind of stretched? Well, you know, I mean, obviously we can handle multi, multi-incidents in our city the way we deploy our assets.

So we'll pull assets from other boroughs. you know, on targeted areas that we feel need coverage. So I think our dispatchers, along with our Chief of Department, do a great job in reassigning assets to locations to make sure they're properly covered. You know, for example, over the weekend, we also added some additional staffing during the storm. We added a 5th firefighter to all the engines on the peninsula because of, you know, it's isolated.

So we took care of that. We also added a 5th fire engine. 5th engine. in 331 on Cross Bay. Again, these additional staffing in case they were, you know, we were looking at the weather forecast that that would be possibly flooded. So we wanted to be proactive in adding that additional staffing. So all those things combined, I think overall we do a pretty good job in moving our assets around to have substantial coverage in every area by backfilling the Rockaways and bringing assets and spreading them out.

So I think we do a pretty good— the 5th Firefighter is great during the flood area, and it does substantially help us. They're great all the time. We would love to keep the 5th.

And I'm going to end on this. I do want to pivot to the nor'easter that happened this weekend. And I acknowledge the administration for door knocking through the Rockaways to be proactive. I will say, which is not for you all, but on the record, I do feel like a lot of our infrastructure projects need to happen quicker to be able to handle the current state of our climate impacts on the communities like the peninsula and the inland, because we're seeing it more now.

That leads me to Rosedale. Rosedale took in a significant amount of water this weekend and damaged Brookfield Park was completely underwater, and there were a lot of homes that were deeply impacted by the storm. I know that there has been a focus on the coastal communities primarily, as we do need it, but I do want to ask NYSEM as well as— and I'll follow up on this— DEP to come into the community with some resources.

I know you said you guys had delivered a number of resources over the weekend, which was great, but Rosedale is requesting to have an event where they can also get, like, the flood sensors and the pumps and all of those things too. And then my last question is, I know you're funding Frank in Far Rockaway. I just wanted to understand how much is that funding and how long is that contract?

So all very good questions. So for this weekend, you know, looking at the nor'easter, it was mostly coastal, but then we know what happened this summer. And I know you were sending, and your chief of staff was sending me the videos and the pictures of what was happening in Rosedale. DEP, I won't speak for them, but they have been doing the town halls, the flooding town halls.

And so if there hasn't been one in Rosedale in that area, we can bring that back. I was at one in Hollis last week where they gave out about 150. We went nice in there too. We come, we go when they go. I was there last week and we're doing one in Forest Hills in a couple weeks with Councilwoman Schulman and so I will bring that back.

I will also say since Emergency Management is reporting to the Deputy Mayor for Operations now and many of the agencies you mentioned such as DEP, Parks, Fire, Transportation, we all report in there. You know, they have been looking at a lot of this infrastructure. That's the Deputy Mayor's background, is large infrastructure projects. You know, what can be pushed forward, what can we do in the interim, all of that.

And so, you know, definitely something we can follow up on. And then your last question. So for right now, Strengthening Communities is funded through the next several years. It's funded through disaster recovery money that the city received after Hurricane Ida. So it is stable for the next few years. We are working with City Hall and OMB for how that program will be funded when that disaster funding is concluded.

And so we fund— the model is that we fund when networks join, we give them you know, several thousand dollars to build their plan, to train their staff, to bring in their partners. And then there is maintenance funding to keep that up. And then the model is that we will activate them and pay them for that activation when they do the outreach.

We did that several times during the winter weather in January and February. And I will give all the networks a shout out that they actually were out putting up flyers through those extremely cold temperatures in subway stations, in bodegas, liquor stores, laundromats, houses of worship, anywhere where people might have gone that needed assistance, needed a warm place.

They did the same thing in the reverse over July 4th weekend because when it was so hot, getting people into cooling centers and other safe locations. And then this weekend we looked specifically at coastal areas, and we are able to activate them and then pay them for their effort.

And my last, last, last question, evacuation route. The last administration, I have a letter committed to updating the evacuation route for the Rockaway Peninsula. Obviously, the roads have changed. Some roads have been demapped now. The footprint looks different because of all of the development. We have a lot of new people on the peninsula also that don't know what even the current evacuation route is.

The signs are down, so they're not up on the poles anymore in many instances, and no one knows where to go in those moments. And so I'd like to begin to explore with the chair and NYSM, what are the steps that are actually needed to update the evacuation route and so that we can start that process. I know the community board has followed up on this as well, but we did get a letter committing to that based on some of the ULURP actions that we took.

But again, the reality is some of these roads that once were probably a part of this evacuation route don't exist anymore. Like next door, they just renamed Edgemere Avenue because it's now relocated somewhere different now. So we I want to make sure everything is up to date.

But again, thank you, Chair, and thank you all for helping with this conversation. I know we have some follow-ups. Of course. Thank you so much, Councilmember Brooks-Powers. You brought up some very powerful and compelling issues and questions. So Councilmember Sanchez was here earlier, but she had to leave, but she wanted me to thank NISPPAC and FDNY and all the agencies for a really great interagency response to 1484 Montgomery.

I wanted to put that on the record.

I just want to get back to— with EMS about the sustained levels. So when was the last time there was a sustained level of under 25% for over 24 hours? Yeah. COVID. That was during the COVID period of time. Right. When nobody was out. Okay. And you were only going for COVID. So that was a very long time ago.

So we've had over for quite some time. So I consider that a state of emergency.

The councilmember brought up the difference is in the road designs over the last number of years. So in Rockaway, there is an ambulance station 11 minutes away by a regular car ride to the Scholars Academy. It's a middle school and high school. Emergency vehicles often get delayed in the area because of road design that has occurred without notification to To the firehouses, to the EMS stations, and how much of an impact does that have on you being able to reach a fire or someone who's sick when you're getting there and all of a sudden the road has been reconfigured and you can no longer go down that road?

So differently than how the fire responds, ambulances don't stay at one location like the ambulance station. the ambulances that come out of the Rockaways, out of every station, are deployed on cross streets throughout the city. So they're more dynamic in their response, and they also can respond from anywhere when they get the call, not just from the ambulance station.

So as far as fire response, I'll turn it over to Chief Sarracco. Yeah, regarding that, we work with DOT all the time with our city planning people, so any road design changes are clear to them and it's disseminated to the units. And they actually, those units will actually go out and make sure those road designs can handle the apparatus.

Sometimes they change a turn where an apparatus can't negotiate the turn. So we do pretty well with our partners in DOT to make sure that we're aware of any road changes regarding that would affect our response. So you don't feel that that affects response times in areas like Long Island City or Astoria or any of the places where they have a lot of open streets?

Well, I would say that any road design change could have, you know, depending on how they're designed, could cause some congestion. But as far as response times in those incidents, I can't quantify those, but I I would say that, you know, again, we work with DOT all the time concerning these things, and, you know, we don't have the data on how much it slows down our response times, but overall, I think throughout the city, congestion has become somewhat of a problem for us, but, you know, we continue to work and move forward and try to, you know, do as good a job with DOT and their needs and the needs of the public in order to safely respond in a timely manner.

Right. And when you're working with DOT, are you working also with the local firehouses in that area? Absolutely. They are involved. They're involved in the process, in the process.

So I have no further questions. And I just would like to say to the entire panel that I really appreciate that Never once was it said, I'll get back to you on that. Well prepared. Your team that's behind you, FDNY, extremely well prepared and ready to help. So kudos to them. And Commissioner, as always, nobody does it better.

So thank you, and thank you for understanding that this is not anything against any one of you or your agencies. This is to help you get the resources that you need so that you can do the job of saving lives, because that's what you all do, from NISM to the FDNY to EMS. You know what the real biggest problem is?

You do your job whether you have the resources or not. And that's why everybody just seems to say, Well, they just don't need anything because they're not squeaky wheels. But I'm going to be the squeaky wheel. This committee will be the squeaky wheel. And we will not let up until you all have the resources that you need to keep this city safe.

Thank you so much for taking the time today. Thank you.

You are dismissed. Oh, I'm sorry. Have been by Council Member Wong. So before you go, do you have a question or? Okay, good. Council Member Wong is here. Thank you so much again. Okay. Yeah, man. What happened to that man? I will now open the hearing for public testimony. I remind the public members that this is a government proceeding and that decorum shall be observed at all times.

As such, members of the public shall remain silent at all times. The witness table is reserved for people who wish to testify. No video recording or photography is allowed from the witness table. Further, members of the public may not present audio or video recordings as testimony. But may submit transcripts of such recordings to the Sergeant-at-Arms for inclusion in the hearing record.

If you wish to speak at today's hearing, please fill out an appearance card with the Sergeant-at-Arms and wait to be recognized. When recognized, you will have 2 minutes to speak on today's hearing topic, emergency response in the Rockaways and other geographically isolated communities in New York City. If you have a written statement or additional written testimony you wish to submit for the record, please provide a copy of that testimony to the Sergeant-at-Arms.

You also could email your written testimony to testimony@council.nyc.gov. That's testimony@council.nyc.gov. Within 72 hours of the close of this hearing. Audio and video recordings will not be accepted. We do not have any in-person members of the public, but we do have one member on Zoom, Chowdhury Hassan Mahmood. So if you are available, Mr. Mahmood? Yes, I am available.

Wonderful. We're waiting for, for your public testimony. You may begin.

Thank you. Good morning, Chair and distinguished members of the Committee on Fire and EMS Management. My name is Chowdhury Mahmud. I am a permanent computer specialist at FDNY Bureau of Enterprise Technology with 12 years of service and active certification at IT Audit. Security management and project management, and I want to note that I have previously submitted written testimony to the council, to the Committee of Technology, to the Committee of Oversight Investigation, and the Committee of Civil Service and Labor.

However, documented the same concern I raised today. Those testimony are on the public record. What I am describing is not historical; it is the current ongoing situation at FDNY Bureau of Enterprise Technology, and as a whole, and FDNY as a public safety agency. So this— the dispatch system I am questioning are running right now. I am here because nothing has changed and because the committee has directly justified over the outcomes.

On technology and AI in emergency management, technology and AI hold real promise— faster dispatch, predictive resource deployment, better situational awareness. But the promise only works with proper governance and independent testing. Right now, FDNY's 2 primary dispatch systems, those are FireCAD for fire apparatus and EMSCAD for EMS ambulances and all, are, are managed through a $21 million combined sole source arrangement with Accenture, with no competitive resolicitation and no independent quality assurance.

This system have experienced documented operational failures. These failures were not publicly disclosed. The internal QA function that identifies and escalated those failures was eliminated. Time has expired. Do you want to just quickly wrap up? Yes, I do. I do. I do. So, so the, uh, my ask is simple. Require an independent audit on fire and EMS CAD before any internal procedures— proceedings.

Establish a protected reported channel for the FDNY technology employees. Report those failures and procurement concerns directly to the committee without fear. The system that dispatches fire engines and ambulances in that city must work. The people who ensure those work must be protected when they Say they don't. Thank you. I am done.

Thank you so very much for your testimony. We do have one in-person public testimony. How are you? It's Christopher Leon Johnson. You may begin when you're ready.

Oh, button's on. Hey, hey, Joanne. My name is Christopher Leon Johnson. Thanks for having this hearing. I travel the Rockaway a lot. I help out a lot of people in Rockaway. I think the issue here is that I think the city needs a lot of money from the city, this like from the mayor's office, the speaker's office, the state, and Gregory Meeks.

Um, hopefully, and I, I think with help of Gregory Meeks, I think Laura Gillins to get involved with that too, because I think you guys are like, but I'm not, I think long, like Long Beach is like the sister to Rockaway Beach. So I think you need a lot of funding. I think that going forward, they need to push more for the levees, like the same stuff they put in by FDR Drive.

Y'all need the same stuff on the Rockaways. I think that going forward, I think y'all need to work with the MTA to try to find a way to really put more resiliency on the Broad Channel Line. It's always a mess. It's like they need to let people know in advance, like when they're going to lift up the, the, the train bridge, because it's— it gets kind of annoying sometimes when they lift up the train bridge and then, you know, and it's like, what are you lifting that train bridge up for?

Um, and another thing going forward, I, I think that they need to dedicate, like put like OEM unit in Rockaway, dedicate something only for Rockaway. I think Rockaway is a special area that needs special care because it's far out. It's not even— it's in the city, but technically, unless like you drive through Nassau County, it's really not in the city.

It's like its own separate island, to be exact, like Staten Island. Okay, the only drive through the area, you got to go to Nassau County. I think it's kind of stupid, but it just needed special care going forward. I think y'all need all need to get together in one room and say, look, we need to allocate money for more capital funding and infrastructure to Rockaway.

So that's all I got to say. Thank you so much and enjoy your day. Thank you.

Very much appreciated. Thank you. That concludes our hearing on fire and emergency management. I thank everyone for coming to testify. Our public testimony individuals as well as our students from NYU. Our hearing is now over. Thank you.