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New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) (formerly the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM)) was formed in 1996 as part of the Mayor's Office under Rudolph W. Giuliani. By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an independent agency, headed by the commissioner of emergency management. In 2006 the office was reorganized under the deputy mayor for administration by
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
.


Agency structure

The agency is responsible for oversight and development of the city's
emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...
plans. NYCEM regularly tests plans by conducting drills and exercises, and responds to emergencies to ensure that other agencies not only follow these plans, but to foster communication amongst the responding agencies. NYCEM also operates the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where city, state and federal agencies join representatives from the private and
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
sectors to coordinate complex responses to emergencies and
disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...
s. The agency also developed and runs the Notify NYC emergency alert program, by which citizens can sign up to receive phone and email alerts about emergencies and events happening in their neighborhoods. The agency is also the administrator of New York City's community emergency response teams. Each
community emergency response team In the United States, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) can refer to * an implementation of Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA's National CERT Program, administered by a local sponsoring agency, which provides a standardized training ...
(CERT) is coterminous with one or more New York community boards. New York City Emergency Management maintains the ''Citywide Incident Management System'' which is based on the National Incident Management System. The former commissioner of NYCEM is Deanne Criswell, a former
FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
official and head of OEM for the city of
Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...
. After Criswell became FEMA Administrator, John Scrivani was named commissioner.


7 WTC and post-9/11 buildings

From 1999 until
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, New York City's Emergency Operations Center was housed on the 23rd floor of the
7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) is an office building constructed as part of the new World Trade Center (2001–present), World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on a city block bounded by Gr ...
building. Prior to the decision to use 7 World Trade Center,
MetroTech Center Brooklyn Commons, formerly MetroTech Center, is a business and educational center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. Location Brooklyn Commons lies between Flatbush Avenue Extension and Jay Street, north of the Fulton Mall, Fulton Street Mall ...
, in Brooklyn, was also considered for the Emergency Operations Center. Richard Sheirer was the director of the OEM at the time of the September 11 attacks, and thus became in charge of the city's rescue and recovery effort. As the office in the World Trade Center was severely damaged, OEM was temporarily housed at Pier 92 of New York Passenger Ship Terminal on Manhattan's West Side. Pier 92 was chosen because OEM had scheduled a bio-terrorism exercise for September 12, 2001 called Operation TriPOD. (The exercise was later conducted on May 22, 2002.) Before moving into the new building, OEM was located in a warehouse beneath the
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...
.


New building

The new structure formerly served as the New York City headquarters for the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
of Greater New York. The $50 million project, funded by the federal government, called for the fifty-year-old building to be completely gutted and outfitted with the latest in audio-visual and communications technology. On December 5, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined OEM commissioner Joseph F. Bruno, former OEM directors Richard Sheirer and John Odermatt, NYCEM personnel, and a host of other dignitaries to unveil the agency's new state-of-the-art headquarters. The new facility, located at 165 Cadman Plaza East in
Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third-largest central business district in New York City (after Midtown Manhattan, Midtown and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighb ...
. It replaces the agency's former offices that were located on the 23rd floor of
7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) is an office building constructed as part of the new World Trade Center (2001–present), World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on a city block bounded by Gr ...
, the 47-story building that collapsed in the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. The new NYCEM building has three floors with of space. It contains general offices for NYCEM staff, several conference rooms, the Joint Information Center (a press corps composed of press officers from several city agencies who disseminate information to the public), a state-of-the-art media briefing room, Watch Command, and the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). There is also space for senior officials to meet and the building is staffed 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The nerve center of NYCEM is its Watch Command. It is staffed 24/7 with representatives from the city's public safety agencies. They monitor police and fire broadcasts and dispatch NYCEM Field Responders if an incident warrants. Watch Commanders also have access to New York City's 911 systems and are responsible for alerting local, state, and federal officials of emergencies. They maintain direct contact with the New York State Emergency Management Office and surrounding jurisdictions to lend support or aid if needed. NYCEM's new headquarters is home to the Emergency Operations Center. The EOC serves as a central clearinghouse where local, state, and federal agencies can gather to assess and respond to a number of emergencies. Activated for numerous events, the new EOC contains workstations for some 130 city, state, federal, and non-profit agencies. There is secure communications equipment, large video displays, and space for Geographic Information Systems. The new structure also has the distinction of being New York City's first “green” agency headquarters utilizing energy-saving and environmentally sound construction techniques. OEM qualifies for the
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...
(LEED) Silver certification for its new building. According to Commissioner Bruno at the unveiling ceremonies, “New York City is at the forefront of emergency management planning and this new facility will continue to move us forward.”


Post-disaster modular housing

NYCEM has shipping container based modular temporary post-disaster housing units for evaluation next to its headquarters. The units were designed b
Garrison Architects
and can be stacked up to four stories high. The prototype building consists of a single bedroom top floor and two three-bedroom floors.


Agency executives

* Jerome Hauer – Director, 1996–2000 * Richard Sheirer – Director, 2000–2002 * John T. Odermatt – Director, April 4, 2002 – December 2003 * Joseph F. Bruno – Commissioner, March 4, 2004 – June 27, 2014 *
Joseph Esposito Joseph John Esposito (March 28, 1950 – January 8, 2024) was an American police officer, who served as Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement for the New York City Department of Buildings, Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management from 2 ...
– Commissioner, June 27, 2014 – June 30, 2019 * Deanne Criswell – Commissioner, July 1, 2019 – 2021 * John Scrivani – Commissioner, 2021 * Andrew D’Amora – Commissioner, 2021 – January 2, 2022 * Christina Farrell – Acting Commissioner, January 3 to February 17, 2022 *
Zach Iscol Zachary Iscol (born August 18, 1978) is an American civil servant, non-profit executive, politician, and United States Marine veteran who serves as Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management. Iscol is a United States Marine veteran and ...
– Commissioner, February 17, 2022 – present


See also

* United States government operations and exercises on September 11, 2001 *
Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center elicited a large response of local emergency and rescue personnel to assist in the evacuation of the two towers, resulting in a large loss of the same personnel when the towers collapsed. Afte ...
* Notify NYC


References

Notes Bibliography *


External links

* *
Press Release
Office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
NYCEM Agency History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emergency Management, New York City Emergency Management, Office of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
Downtown Brooklyn Government buildings in Brooklyn 1996 establishments in New York City