AMNY
By Barbara Russo-Lennon
Emergency medical technicians are fuming after the NYC Council approved on Monday a pay increase for app-based grocery-delivery workers that leaves the city’s medical first responders earning less than most deliveristas.
FDNY EMTs, city workers who respond to life-saving emergencies ranging from heart attacks and seizures to stabbings and shootings, are the busiest, but likely most impoverished first responders in the country, according to Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union that represents the city’s EMTs and paramedics.
“This is not just a gigantic wage gap, but a complete and moral failure to the medically trained, frontline first responders who put their own lives in danger to save New Yorkers,” Barzilay said.
Barzilay made the strong statement after the NYC Council passed legislation this week to mandate a minimum wage increase for 20,000 grocery delivery workers. The increase brings their hourly wage to $21.44 per hour, which Barzilay said is 13% higher than the FDNY’s emergency medical responder salaries.
The pay boost is set to match raises mandated by lawmakers for app-based restaurant delivery workers, which they received in April 2025.