City council hearing spotlights understaffing, overtime and pay issues for NYC 911 and EMS workers

Council members and city agency officials convened a joint hearing of the New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor (chair Carmen de la Rosa), the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management (chair Joanna Areola) and the Committee on Public Safety (chair Yousef Salaam) to review working conditions for the city’s 911 emergency response workforce, including police communications technicians (PCTs) and FDNY emergency medical services staff.

The hearing opened with council leaders framing the issue as both a labor and public-safety problem. “Today’s hearing is focused on working conditions for our city's 9 1 1 emergency response workers,” Council Member Carmen de la Rosa said, noting that the system receives “over 7,000,000 calls” a year.

Why it matters: Witnesses and callers told the council that chronic understaffing, large numbers of delayed calls, and multi-year stalled contract talks are producing heavy overtime, fatigue and departures from the workforce — conditions they say are reducing service reliability and putting responders and patients at risk.

NYPD and FDNY officials described steps to reduce delays and bolster support services but acknowledged staffing gaps. Assistant Chief Richard Napolitano, speaking for the NYPD, said the department had hired more call-takers and adjusted shift patterns to reduce hold times: “Between January and the September 2024, there were a 189,343 delayed calls. And in the same time period in 2025, there was a 108,421 delayed calls, a 42.7 decrease year to date.” Napolitano also said the department now answers “92% of calls within 5 seconds and 98% of calls within 30 seconds,” and that supervisors review response times every two hours.

FDNY witnesses described operational pressures on EMTs and paramedics and the mental-health supports available. Paul Miano (FDNY) and Denise Werner (chief of emergency medical dispatch) emphasized the physical dangers and emotional toll of EMS work and outlined counseling and peer-support resources. Miano said the department’s Counseling Service Unit operates citywide and that members can access confidential services “24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” Werner described the dispatch algorithm used to identify mental-health calls (the “Be He@rd/EDP” pathway) and agreed to provide the council with the protocol questions used by dispatchers.

Union leaders and front-line workers disputed city characterizations of progress and placed primary blame on low pay and stalled bargaining. Oren Barsley, representing FDNY EMS Local 2507, told the council that a starting annual salary around $39,000 forces many members into second jobs and contributes to turnover: “How can you afford to live in a city with a starting salary of $39,000 … $59,000 if you don't do any overtime, it's impossible to survive.” Tabitha Shepherd, newly elected president of PCT Local 5911, described schedules she said force many call-takers into recurring 16-hour days, with repeated mandatory overtime that she said damages morale and family life.

Areas of agreement and outstanding questions: City officials said they are hiring multiple classes of PCTs and reintroduced 8-hour tours to smooth staffing; the NYPD said a class of roughly 120 new hires was scheduled to graduate in November and another class would follow. But union witnesses and council members pointed to persistent attrition numbers and said net staffing gains remain small. Council members pressed for more detailed data on how many calls exceed the 30‑second delay threshold, how many callers hang up during delays, and precisely how many PCTs and EMS staff are working active shifts each week. Napolitano agreed to follow up with additional metrics; Werner agreed to supply the dispatch algorithm used for mental-health triage.

Pay and collective bargaining: FDNY and NYPD witnesses emphasized that compensation is set through collective bargaining with the city’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR). Multiple council members and union witnesses criticized OLR’s absence from the hearing. FDNY and union representatives said EMS workers have been without a settled contract for years and cited a recently vetoed state-level bill addressing pay parity as a missed opportunity. Council members and unions urged the administration and OLR to resolve contract talks and consider funding steps to reduce turnover and reliance on overtime.

Safety and assaults: FDNY and union witnesses reported rising assaults on EMS personnel. FDNY testimony noted hundreds of member visits to counseling services this year and that documented assaults rose in recent years; union testimony cited specific recent fatal attacks on EMS members during calls. FDNY officials described training on situational safety and tactical communication but said EMS crews do not carry defensive weapons; when a scene is unsafe crews are trained to withdraw and await law-enforcement assistance.

Operational responses and pilot programs: FDNY described a hospital liaison program intended to shorten ambulance turnaround and free units to respond to new calls; FDNY said the program has reduced turnaround times when liaison staff are present and agreed to provide more detailed metrics. Werner described the Be He@rd (behavioral health) coordination with Health + Hospitals (H+H) and said the city follows an algorithm with inclusion/exclusion criteria to route calls to the specialized mental-health response.

Follow-up and directions: Committee chairs and agency witnesses agreed on several follow-up items the city will supply to the council, including: the dispatch algorithm/questions used to triage mental-health calls; more granular delay metrics (counts and average extra wait beyond 30 seconds); updated hiring, attrition and active-shift headcount figures for PCTs and EMS; and an impact assessment of the hospital liaison pilot. Council members said they will continue oversight while urging the administration and OLR to resume negotiations with unions.

Ending: The hearing ended with public testimony from union leaders and front-line workers who repeated calls for pay parity, reduced mandatory overtime, and better retention measures. Council chairs thanked witnesses and adjourned the hearing, leaving the council to pursue additional data and continued oversight.

Votes at a glance: No formal votes or ordinances were taken at this hearing; it was an oversight hearing focused on testimony and follow-up directions.