NYCEM Letter
Commissioner Zachary Iscol
New York City Emergency Management
165 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dear Commissioner Iscol,
I am writing in the penumbra of last week’s air quality emergency to ask about NYCEM’s plans for after-action review to learn from our lack of preparedness for the event, and to ask more broadly about our readiness for future disasters as climate change increasingly affects New York City.
As you know, on Monday, June 5, 2023, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued an air quality health advisory due to air pollution caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires. New York City remained under the health advisory for the remainder of the week as the Air Quality Index (AQI) rose to hazardous levels, peaking at 465 on June 7. As the sky turned orange and New Yorkers scrambled to understand what to do to stay safe and healthy, the City was slow to issue guidance. It was not until 6:43 pm on Tuesday, June 6 (well after the air had already reached “very unhealthy” AQI levels above 200) that City Hall tweeted a warning to stay inside. And it was not until 11:30 pm later that evening that the City issued an official statement cancelling public school outdoor activities and suspending Alternate Side Parking.
In response to questions last week, Mayor Adams said that there is “no blueprint or playbook for these types of issues” and that “there is no planning for an incident like this.” However, while this type of hazard was a first for New York City, playbooks for wildfire emergency preparedness do exist: Western localities have significant experience that we must learn from.[1],[2] I hope that NYCEM plans to conduct an after-action review to learn the lessons from our lack of preparedness in order to put us on a stronger emergency response footing when the next air quality emergency hits.
More broadly, as climate change intensifies, we must be prepared for a wider range of emergencies, including ones that we have not yet experienced. Superstorm Sandy exposed weaknesses in our coastal flooding response. Hurricane Ida did the same for flash flooding. Covid-19 for pandemics. As the number of heat waves is expected to triple in the coming decades, we must also prepare for deadlier extreme heat events like those that hit the Northwest US and Northern Europe in recent years. Unfortunately, we live in a time when the need for adaptive capacity in responding to unanticipated emergencies is urgent.
In the interest of helping to advance the City’s preparedness, my office respectfully requests responses to the following questions:
- Will NYCEM complete an after-action report to document lessons learned from the response to the air quality event, and identify ways to increase the City’s preparedness to future air quality health emergencies?
- What communications platforms were utilized in notifying New Yorkers about the air quality event, how many New Yorkers received those alerts, and in what languages?
- Did NYCEM communicate with counterparts in other states that have experience with air quality emergencies to inform NYC’s approach to the event?
- Will NYCEM be adding air quality health emergencies to its list of hazards covered in the NYC Hazard Mitigation Plan?
- How does NYCEM assess when a risk is high enough to warrant a playbook or preparedness plan? How often is such an assessment performed, and using what tools?
- What is NYCEM’s protocol for handling emergencies for which it does not have a specific playbook or preparedness plan?
- Does NYCEM participate in scenario planning with counterparts in other localities that may have different experiences with similar hazards and emergency scenarios?
- Currently, NYCEM is facing a 6% vacancy rate with significant staffing reductions proposed in the FY 2024 budget. Is NYCEM adequately staffed to meet emergency preparation needs?
- How will the proposed reductions in staff affect NYCEM’s operations?
- What are the steps NYCEM is taking to fill vacant positions?
I genuinely appreciate that NYCEM has been playing a central role in responding to the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers, and that the organization has been stretched by the Covid-19 crisis and multiple emergencies over the past few years. Nonetheless, your work to anticipate future risks and develop plans that can be adapted for disaster response is essential to keep New Yorkers safe.
We kindly request a response to our questions by Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Thank you for your continued attention to this matter and your efforts toward our shared goal of strengthening our future preparedness to protect all New Yorkers.
Sincerely,
Brad Lander
New York City Comptroller
[1] Wildfire Smoke Air Pollution Emergency Plan for Sacramento, https://www.airquality.org/Communications/Documents/Wildfire%20Emergency%20Plan%20-%20FINAL.pdf
[2] Washington State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, https://mil.wa.gov/asset/610b0354b67ae