Bill would boost transparency about ambulance response time in NYC, councilwoman says
The New York City Council is considering a new bill to address the city's backlog of emergency calls as some say the situation has reached critical mass.
When Nicholas Costello, 24, went into cardiac arrest in the Bronx back in 2023, his friends waited nearly 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive after they called 911.
"They did get his heart restarted, but he never regained consciousness," Costello's father, Tyler Weaver, said.
Costello died at the hospital within hours.
"He was removed from life support the following day because he had too much brain damage from lack of oxygen for too long," Weaver said.
Three years later, some fear not much has changed.
"Right now, the city of New York cannot promise a New Yorker an ambulance in 20 minutes," Michael Greco, President of Local 2507, said. "They can hope for it, but we are in an actual crisis now."
The latest FDNY data shows in July 2026, New Yorkers waited 14 minutes and 40 seconds on average for an ambulance after calling 911 for a life-threatening medical emergency.
"When the call volume continues to go up and the staffing continues to go down, that means that it's going to be more difficult to get to the increasing calls," FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.
The City Council is now considering a bill that would require City Hall to issue emergency notifications any time FDNY EMS has more than 25 pending ambulance dispatches.
"And we will give them options on how to get to the hospital through the Notify NYC app," Councilwoman Joann Ariola said.
Ariola introduced the legislation days before the city's 911 system broke down for seven hours on Tuesday. The mayor's office estimates up to 400 people were unable to connect with emergency operators during that time.
"The mayor's office did not notify any of the first responding agencies, so information could not be let out to the public," Ariola said.
City Hall is blaming that breakdown on Motorola, one of its vendors, for applying a firmware update overnight, and say they're now working with Motorola to prevent this from happening again. CBS News New York reached out to Motorola and has not heard back.
While Tuesday was an extreme example, Ariola says her bill would give New Yorkers greater transparency during everyday emergencies.
A spokesman for City Hall says it is reviewing the legislation.
