EMS Native 2507 President Oren Barzilay despatched out his advisory to the 270 metropolis EMTs and paramedics assigned to the three EMS stations in Midtown and Decrease Manhattan this week.
Congestion tolling is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5 in New York Metropolis, barring any last-minute authorized challenges. Anybody coming into Manhattan beneath sixtieth St. will probably be charged an extra $9 on prime of already current bridge and tunnel tolls.
On Thursday the state of New Jersey filed for a last-minute injunction to cease the MTA toll.
An indication giving discover of the final flip earlier than being hit with a congestion toll welcomes drivers alongside Columbus Ave. and W. 61st St. Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Barzilay desires his members working in Midtown and decrease Manhattan to switch to different boroughs, the place congestion pricing is not going to apply.
Whereas emergency automobiles would not have to pay the payment, EMTs and paramedics driving into Manhattan of their private automobiles might want to.
EMTs and paramedics are already being paid a a lot decrease wage than first responders in different municipalities and shouldn’t be pressured to pay this additional tax to get to work, Barzilay mentioned.
“Already suffering with poverty wages, and the mayor’s complete refusal to pay us a true living wage, New York City’s emergency medical first responders are now about to be pickpocketed by a state agency and its new MTA’s driving tax,” Barzilay mentioned. “FDNY’s financially struggling EMTs and paramedics can simply no longer afford to protect the inhabitants of Manhattan from 60th Street to the Battery, and our members have been asking for transfers.”
Alec Tabak for New York Day by day Information
EMS Native 2507 President Oren Barzilay despatched out his advisory to the 270 metropolis EMTs and paramedics assigned to the three EMS stations in Midtown and Decrease Manhattan this week. (Alec Tabak for New York Day by day Information)
Emails to the FDNY and Metropolis Corridor weren’t instantly returned.
Beginning pay for FDNY EMTs is $18.94 an hour, solely $2.44 above the town’s 2025 minimal wage and $1.02 lower than the $19.96-an-hour minimal wage that app-based meals supply staff are anticipated to obtain starting on April 1, 2025, union officers mentioned.
“These heroes of the pandemic have been completely forgotten by New York’s elected officials,” Barzilay mentioned, including that lots of his members need to take second jobs and survive on meals stamps.
“Congestion pricing without exemptions for FDNY EMS is a public-safety time bomb waiting to detonate,” he mentioned. “It will likely have a large, negative impact on public safety.”
Initially Revealed: January 3, 2025 at 7:05 PM EST
