New York City government agency
New York City Emergency Management
(
NYCEM
) (formerly the
New York City Office of Emergency Management
(
OEM
)) was originally formed in 1996 as part of the
Mayor's Office
under
Rudolph W. Giuliani
.
[2]
By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an independent agency, headed by the commissioner of emergency management.
[3]
[4]
In 2006 the office was reorganized under the deputy mayor for administration by
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
.
Agency structure
[
edit
]
The agency is responsible for oversight and development of the city's
emergency management
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.
[5]
NYCEM also operates the city's
Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) where city, state and federal agencies join representatives from the private and
nonprofit
sectors to coordinate complex responses to emergencies and
disasters
.
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
(CERT) is coterminous with one or more
New York community boards
.
New York City Emergency Management maintains the
Citywide Incident Management System
[6]
which is based on the
National Incident Management System
.
The former commissioner of NYCEM is
Deanne Criswell
, a former
FEMA
official and head of
OEM
for the city of
Aurora, Colorado
. After Criswell became FEMA Administrator, John Scrivani was named commissioner.
[7]
7 WTC and post-9/11 buildings
[
edit
]
From 1999 until
September 11, 2001
, New York City's Emergency Operations Center was housed on the 23rd floor of the
7 World Trade Center
building.
[8]
[9]
Prior to the decision to use 7 World Trade Center,
MetroTech Center
, in Brooklyn, was also considered for the Emergency Operations Center.
[10]
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
.
[2]
[11]
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.)
[12]
Before moving into the new building, OEM was located in a warehouse beneath the
Brooklyn Bridge
.
New building
[
edit
]
The new structure formerly served as the New York City headquarters for the
American Red Cross
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
.
[13]
It replaces the agency's former offices that were located on the 23rd floor of
7 World Trade Center
, the 47-story building that collapsed in the
September 11, 2001 attacks
.
The new NYCEM building has three floors with 65,000 square feet (6,000 m
2
) of space.
[14]
[15]
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.
[16]
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
(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.”
[17]
Post-disaster modular housing
[
edit
]
NYCEM has
shipping container based
modular
temporary
post-disaster housing units for evaluation next to its headquarters.
[18]
[19]
The units were designed by
Garrison Architects
and can be stacked up to four stories high.
[20]
The prototype building consists of a 480 sq ft (45 m
2
) single bedroom top floor and two 813 sq ft (75.5 m
2
) three-bedroom floors.
[21]
[22]
Agency executives
[
edit
]
- Jerome Hauer
? Director, 1996?2000
- Richard Sheirer
? Director, 2000?2002
- John T. Odermatt ? Director, April 4, 2002
[23]
? December 2003
[24]
- Joseph F. Bruno
? Commissioner, March 4, 2004 ? June 27, 2014
[25]
[26]
[27]
- Joseph Esposito
? Commissioner, June 27, 2014 ? June 30, 2019
[28]
[29]
- Deanne Criswell
? Commissioner, July 1, 2019 ? 2021
[30]
- John Scrivani ? Commissioner, 2021
- Andrew D’Amora ? Commissioner, 2021 ? January 2, 2022
- Christina Farrell ? Acting Commissioner, January 3 to February 17, 2022
- Zach Iscol
? Commissioner, February 17, 2022 ? present
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
- ^
"Fiscal Year 2020 New York City Government Workforce Profile Report"
.
New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services
. Archived from
the original
on February 13, 2023
. Retrieved
February 13,
2023
– via shinyapp.io.
- ^
a
b
Weber, Bruce (2012-01-19).
"Richard J. Sheirer, Official in Charge of Sept. 11 Rescues, Dies at 65"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
2012-02-04
.
- ^
Worth, Robert (7 November 2001).
"THE 2001 ELECTIONS: BALLOT QUESTIONS; All 5 Proposals Approved For Revision of City Charter"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
21 October
2017
.
- ^
"New York City Campaign Finance Board: The 2001 Voter Guide"
.
www.nyccfb.info
. New York City Campaign Finance Board
. Retrieved
21 October
2017
.
- ^
Frost, Mary (October 22, 2014).
"Disaster drill at Brooklyn OEM preps for nuclear blast in Manhattan | Brooklyn Daily Eagle"
.
www.brooklyneagle.com
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
"Citywide Incident Management System - NYCEM"
.
www1.nyc.gov
. City of New York. NYC Emergency Management
. Retrieved
18 October
2017
.
- ^
"Meet the Executive Staff - NYCEM"
.
www1.nyc.gov
. Retrieved
29 May
2021
.
- ^
Chan, Sewell (May 15, 2007).
"Giuliani, 9/11 and the Emergency Command Center, Continued"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Rashbaum, William K. (2008).
"Memo Details Objections to Command Center Site"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Barrett, Wayne (July 31, 2007).
"Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11 | Village Voice"
.
The Village Voice
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Griscom, Amanda (October 8, 2001).
"Man Behind the Mayor"
.
NYMag.com
. New York Magazine
. Retrieved
27 October
2017
.
- ^
"Office of Emergency Management - Press Release: May 22, 2002 - Operation TriPOD"
. 26 June 2003. Archived from the original on 26 June 2003
. Retrieved
27 October
2017
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
"Mayor Bloomberg Discusses New OEM Headquarters During Weekly Radio Address"
.
The official website of the City of New York
. 2006.
- ^
Flynn, Kevin (April 23, 2002).
"Brooklyn building to house replacement crisis bunker"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Hill, John (2011).
Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture
. W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN
9780393733266
.
- ^
Sandy, Smith (14 December 2006).
"New York Unveils New Emergency Management Headquarters"
.
EHS Today
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
"Mayor Bloomberg and OEM Commissioner Bruno Open New OEM Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center"
.
The official website of the City of New York
. 2006-12-05
. Retrieved
2017-03-12
.
- ^
Dailey, Jessica (Mar 6, 2013).
"Post-Disaster Shipping Container Housing Coming to DoBro"
.
Curbed NY
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Chaban, Matt A. V. (19 October 2015).
"New York City Tests Post-Disaster Housing That Stacks Up"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
8 October
2017
.
- ^
"City tests modular post-disaster housing at Cadman Plaza"
.
The Real Deal New York
. 20 October 2015
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Lee, Kevin (June 11, 2014).
"NYC's Prefab Post-Disaster Housing Units Unveiled in Brooklyn (PHOTOS)"
.
Inhabitat.com
. Retrieved
8 October
2017
.
- ^
Bindelglass, Evan (October 20, 2015).
"What It's Like to Spend a Night in NYC's Post-Disaster Housing"
.
Curbed NY
. Retrieved
2 October
2017
.
- ^
Cardwell, Diane (5 April 2002).
"Bloomberg Fills Gaps, Naming Four to Posts In His Administration"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
16 October
2017
.
- ^
"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Announces the Resignation of Office of Emergency Management Commissioner John T. Odermatt"
.
The official website of the City of New York
. November 12, 2003
. Retrieved
8 October
2017
.
- ^
NYC OEM.
"NYC OEM Press kit"
(PDF)
.
NYC OEM
. Retrieved
16 October
2017
.
- ^
"OEM - About OEM - Commissioner Bruno"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-03-20
. Retrieved
2012-03-19
.
- ^
"New York City OEM Commissioner Joseph Bruno Resigns"
.
CBS News New York
. CBS News. June 18, 2014
. Retrieved
16 October
2017
.
- ^
"Mayor de Blasio Appoints Joseph Esposito as Commissioner, Office of Emergency Management"
.
The official website of the City of New York
. June 27, 2014
. Retrieved
16 October
2017
.
- ^
Goodman, J. David (December 4, 2018).
"City Hall Planned to Quietly Replace Its Top Emergency Official. Then Things Got Complicated"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
14 July
2019
.
- ^
Dienst, Jonathan; Russo, Melissa (June 4, 2019).
"Deanne Criswell Named New NYC Emergency Management Commissioner"
.
NBC New York
. Retrieved
14 July
2019
.
Bibliography
External links
[
edit
]