Yet another case of “what could possibly go wrong”
FDNY union leaders are fighting back against the Big Apple’s new congestion pricing, warning the toll will negatively impact response times, leaving residents and first responders to deal with potentially deadly results.
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro and Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Jim Brosi discussed the new congestion pricing and its inadvertent side effects on the fire department during “FOX & Friends.”
“We begged, and we pleaded, ‘Don’t don’t go down this road,'” Ansbro told Lawrence Jones on Tuesday. “There’s only about 270 firefighters every single day working in the zone. We estimate the cost to be $3,000 a day because we bring our vehicles into the zone, and we bring vehicles into the city, and then we use them when they move us from firehouse to firehouse.”
“When there’s a shortage [in] one place, and a surplus in another… twice a day, you have three to 400 firefighters going to a different firehouse or returning from that firehouse, and they used to have the ability to use 2000 of our cars at a moment’s notice,” he continued.
So, basically firefighters need to be able to move around, and, if they cannot take their own vehicles they have to wait for the bus or take the subway, which could increase response time as well as reduce the number of firefighters available for response. Especially since they could dragging along 85+ pounds of equipment. I wonder what the government elites and all those cheering the congestion pricing will think when this causes a delayed response time for their emergency
“Change is hard. And when things are going well for people — like the 90% of people who know that the system that gets them to work or to school every single day is going to be invested in, is going to be there for them and their families — they’re not taking to the streets to say how great this is. But they are the beneficiaries, the mass majority of people who work in this area,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Monday.
Hey, I wonder if Hochul will be using the subway or buses when she’s in NYC? Or driving around in her big SUV? How about NYC employees: will they have to pay out of their own pockets when they drive through the congestion zone? That should be required.
Brosi argued the likely delayed response times and unconventional traffic outside the congestion pricing zones could be dangerous for residents and firefighters alike, and could cost millions if the department needs additional vehicles to fill the void.
They would need a whole bunch of new, government owned vehicles to avoid the toll.
“It’s difficult to see how the response times wouldn’t be affected because these units are operating well beyond their normal routine response area,” Brosi said. “We’ve already seen firefighters stay on duty for an extra two, four, six or eight hours after a 24-hour shift in a place where they’re really already doing 6,000 runs a year. That is a tremendous toll on the members and likely to lead to more injuries.”
And, instead of exempting the firefighters from the tolls the city will end up spending a fortune in overtime.
Read: Surprise: NYC’s Congestion Pricing Will Cause Trouble For Firefighter Response »
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