GOTHAMIST
By Giulia Heyward | Oct 23, 2025
Despite concerns over rising 911 response times and chronic EMS staffing shortages, New Yorkers shouldn’t expect to see more ambulance workers anytime soon.
Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill this month that would have required New York City ambulances to be staffed by two qualified medical first responders, which supporters say could have improved response times and worker safety. FDNY officials said they urged the governor to reject the bill, warning it would result in fewer ambulances on the streets and longer response times.
The legislation was inspired by the fatal 2022 stabbing of FDNY EMS Lt. Alison Russo, who was working alone in a city-issued vehicle when she was attacked outside her station house in Queens. She was 61.
The bill, which passed unanimously in both the state Senate and Assembly, would have amended public health law to require that all 911 responses in cities with more than 1 million residents include at least two certified EMS personnel, including on ambulances and supervisors’ vehicles.
In an Oct. 16 veto memo, Hochul said the proposed law would impose an unsustainable cost on the city. She estimated it would require hiring 290 more EMTs at an additional annual cost of $25 million.
FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing more than 4,000 EMTs and paramedics, called Hochul’s decision “devastating.”
“This was common-sense legislation to help protect the men and women who protect our city,” said Oren Barzilay, the union’s president. “For years we’ve been hearing about EMTs and paramedics being assaulted. Some have been permanently disabled. Others have been murdered.”
Barzilay’s union noted that just 14% of the FDNY’s $2.6 billion budget currently goes toward EMS, down from 16.2% last fiscal year.
“How do you put money before the safety of my men and women?” Barzilay said.