NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Two of New York City’s firefighter unions are criticizing the city’s newly-implemented congestion pricing plan, stating at a press conference on Sunday that the $9 toll will hurt response times and hike overtime fees.
Leaders from the Uniformed Firefighters Association and Uniformed Fire Officers Association said that it has been common practice among members of the FDNY to use their personal vehicles, free of charge to the department, to transport themselves between fire stations, especially when filling in for shortages at different fire houses.
With the congestion pricing toll, which went into effect Sunday, UFA president Andy Ansbro said that these firefighters will now be asking the department to take them to their place of work for the day in a department vehicle.
“They will be putting firefighters on emergency vehicles, transporting them to and from different work locations, as they’re also trying to respond to the many runs that we take in,” Ansbro said. “Thousands of runs a day.”
While the tolling plan allows an exemption for emergency vehicles, it was not extended to firefighters driving their personal vehicles, despite requests from members of the FDNY.
“Where do these officers put their gear? Do they get on the Long Island Rail Road? Do they get on the 7 train? How do they get to work with this gear? And whose responsibility is it to get them there safely?,” UFOA president Jimmy Brosi asked. “And why [has] this message not been heard at the state level, at the MTA, at the department level or even at the New York City mayor’s office? We have brought this to every one of them.”
Brosi said that the unions asked these agencies that the less than 10% of fire members assigned into the business district be compensated for the cost they would incur, not all fire members, but were still rebuffed.
“This is going to cause a serious problem in response times, it’s going to be dangerous in New York City, all because the city, the state and the MTA could not come to an agreement on what to do for the FDNY and New York City firefighters that put their own vehicles on the line with their bodies,” Ansbro added.
In a press conference on Sunday to provide an update on congestion pricing, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said that one of the main goals of the plan was to reduce gridlock in the congestion zone—below 60th Street in Manhattan. According to Lieber, response times for emergency vehicles like firetrucks and ambulances have been increasing over recent years because of traffic in the area, and smoother traffic flow will reverse this effect.
When asked about the specific complaints from the fire unions by 1010 WINS reporter Carol D’Auria, Lieber said that “there were a lot of specific proposals for exemptions,” but ultimately the MTA could not provide them in many smaller-scale cases.
“It was recommended to us ultimately that we shouldn’t have rifle shot, [specific] exemptions for every little situation, but that those folks properly can raise that issue with employers,” Lieber said. “If your employer is requiring you to drive instead of take mass transit, and requiring [you] to use the car to move during the job, that’s a legitimate question to raise with your employer.”
“The firefighters have made that argument, I know that they’re going to make it to the city as an employer-employee issue,” the MTA chair continued.
Without the exemption, the fire unions remain concerned that an additional burden of transport is being placed on the FDNY as a department, which will harm response times and increase the need for overtime pay, another new expense.
“Our members have utilized their vehicles in the past to transport their gear, to arrive prior to the start of the tour, so there is no break in service,” Brosi said. “It allows not only better management but better continuity. Unfortunately we’re now telling those same members not to bring their car into the business district.”