FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 3, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
Queens councilman leads eff orts for
equal pay for FDNY EMS fi rst responders
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Seeking equal pay for EMS fi rst
responders, Councilman I. Daneek
Miller and Attorney General Letitia
James joined advocates and three local
unions representing FDNY EMS workers
to rally Wednesday on the steps of
City Hall.
Unlike fi refi ghters and fi re offi cers,
some 4,000 FDNY EMS Bureau members
are predominantly comprised of
people of color and consist of the highest
percentage of women in any uniformed
services and fi rst responders and they
receive $8,000 less in starting salary than
other fi rst responders: a gap that becomes
wider by tens of thousands of dollars aft er
fi ve years of service.
“Our city’s greatness is owed to the
work and performance of its dedicated
civil servants, but the municipal legacy
system that has suppressed generations
of black and brown New Yorkers aspiring
to serve our city endures in 2019, and
that is a tragedy,” Miller said. “Our fi rst
responders of color at EMS love their
jobs, but don’t get a fair salary that keeps
food on their families tables, and reluctantly
leave for gainful employment as
fi refi ghters or sanitation workers. Th e
Council’s Committee on Civil Service
and Labor has led the way on the principle
of pay equity on behalf of our city,
and will continue to push this administration
to be consistent with its progressive
values these brave women and men
equal pay for equal work.”
Th e de Blasio administration has
denied the allegation, and claimed the
underpayment is simply due to their
work being “diff erent” from that of fi refi
ghters, despite the fact that FDNY EMS
personnel responded to 80 percent of the
1.8 million calls received by the NYPD
last year, provide emergency medical care
in the midst of life-threatening situations,
and are assaulted by patients. Offi cials say
that more than 1,000 members actually
left EMS to become fi refi ghters over a
12-month period and 80 percent of new
EMS hires leave within four years, taking
with them their extensive medical expertise
and training.
“Equal pay for equal work is a basic
human right,” James said. “Our EMS and
EMT workers dedicate their lives to supporting
us, and it’s past time that we give
them the support they deserve. I’m proud
to stand with them in solidarity in their
fi ght for fairness.”
During the rally Miller announced
that he is introducing new legislation
that would require the FDNY to report
on EMS resignations, and particularly
count the members that leave the division
to become FDNY fi refi ghters or
gain employment with another municipal
agency. Miller is also sponsoring a
resolution calling on the city to provide
salary parity for FDNY EMS personnel
as fi rst responders.
“It’s time to end this appalling pay disparity.
EMTs shoulder the greatest burdens
of 911 calls. Th ey handled 1.3 million
of the 1.8 million calls, or 71 percent
of all emergency calls, in 2018,”
Councilman Francisco Moya said. “Th ey
accomplished that with less than half the
number of EMTs that the FDNY has fi refi
ghters, 4,000 medical technicians to
11,000 fi refi ghters. Th ey may not look
the same, FDNY is majority white and
male while EMS is predominantly made
up of women and minorities, but they’re
alike in one critical way: Th ey are heroes.
Countless New Yorkers are alive today
because of the life-saving decisions EMTs
made when they arrived on the scene.
Every day we ask EMTs to save lives while
barely paying them enough to live themselves.”
Councilman Robert Holden spoke of
his district containing one of the best
EMS training programs in the city at
Grover Cleveland High School in
Ridgewood.
“Our men and women in EMS rush to
the scenes of accidents, disasters, crimes
and other types of disturbing events, and
are integral in preserving the safety of
our city,” Holden said. “We must do right
by our EMS so they can continue to do
the work that they do for nearly 9 million
New Yorkers and millions more who visit
our city each year.”
Port Authority unanimously approves plan to raise prices
on Jamaica AirTrain as well as Hudson River crossings
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Travelers using the AirTrain to JFK
International Airport from the Jamaica
Long Island Rail Road Station will
have to shell out more cash as the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey
announced prices would increase from
$5 a trip to $7.75 beginning Nov. 1. Th e
agency’s Board of Directors voted to
approve its fi rst “infl ation-based” hikes to
tolls, fares and fees since 2015.
“We go to every possible extreme
to avoid fare and toll increases,” Port
Authority Executive Director Rick
Cotton said. “But we must on the other
had support investment in our aging legacy
facilities.”
Th e fare for AirTrain JFK has not
changed since 2003. Th e Port Authority
said frequent travelers, including airport
workers, will still be able to purchase
multiple trips and the current discount
rate of $25 for 10 trips.
Under the Board’s action fare hikes will
impact all Hudson River bridge and tunnel
crossings beginning next year, there
will be a new $1.50 pickup and drop-off
charge for e-hail and taxi trips at JFK and
Laguardia airports.
Th e hikes are expected to raise more
than $25 million a year, which is necessary
Riders of the Jamaica AirTrain will be spending more per ride starting Nov. 1 after the Port
Authority approved hikes to tolls, fares and fees.
to upgrade facilities and infrastructure.
Offi cials say a robust engagement
process that included seven public hearings
and a nine-week online comment
period helped the board fashion the proposals.
“We continue to see unprecedented levels
of passenger and cargo growth at all of
our facilities, which makes it imperative
that we continue to make record infrastructure
investments to keep pace with
this growth,” Port Authority Chairman
Kevin O’Toole said. “While its never
easy to ask the public to pay more to use
our facilities, the 1,300 comments we
received led to important changes to the
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Ad meskens
proposal. Th e Board will continue to listen
to the public as we implement these
changes that help the Port Authority
to enhance mobility and accommodate
regional growth and economic activity.”
Th e board also revised its capital spending
plan for 2017 to 2026, which goes
from $32.2 billion to $37 billion, with
$390 million in new funding for Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s LaGuardia AirTrain
proposal. Th at project that would connect
the Willets Point rail and subway
hub to Laguardia is now expected to cost
more than $2 billion, four times higher
than it was originally expected to cost in
the 2014 proposal.
Courtesy of Miller’s offi ce
City Councilman I. Daneek Miller demands fair salaries for FDNY EMS personnel who are mainly
minority and female as opposed to fi refi ghters.
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