NYC FDNY EMS Unions Endorse Andrew Cuomo for Mayor
4,700 First-Responders, Which Include Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, and Fire Inspectors, Join Campaign to Save Our City
"It’s time for action — and no one gets things done like Andrew Cuomo. We fully support and endorse Andrew Cuomo for mayor because the safety of New York City depends on it."
- Presidents Barzilay and Variale
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today proudly received the endorsement of two vital public safety unions that represent first responders called onto the scene to help treat patients and transport them during an emergency.
The Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics & Fire Inspectors – FDNY, Local 2507 represents 4,100 members that include emergency medical technicians, paramedics and fire protection inspectors. They were joined alongside the 600 members of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union Local 3621, which represent Lieutenants, Captains and Chiefs.
In a joint statement Oren Barzilay, President of Uniformed EMTs, Parademics & Inspectors FDNY, Local 2507 and Vincent Variale, President of Uniformed EMS Officers Union Local 3621, said, “Our EMS workforce has been lied to by politicians for years. Their contracts have lapsed, leaving them unable to afford to pay for basic necessities, all while they’re tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of our loved ones. This situation is unsustainable. It’s time for action—and no one gets things done like Andrew Cuomo. We fully support and endorse Andrew Cuomo for mayor because the safety of New York City depends on it.”
"Our EMS first responders are on the frontlines of every emergency. They are often the critical link that keeps a loved one alive when tragedy strikes. Yet, time and again, the city’s leadership has failed them,” said Governor Cuomo. “How else do you explain EMS members and their families being forced to sleep in homeless shelters? If I’m elected mayor, that ends. We will give these heroes the resources they’ve earned so that the City may recruit the talent and retain the experience NYC needs. EMS will once again be a respected and desirable job.”
Throughout his career in public service, Governor Cuomo has been a champion for working New Yorkers. He raised wages for millions, protected the right to organize when the Supreme Court tried to break the back of the labor movement, increased access to healthcare, enacted the nation's strongest paid family leave program and expanded apprenticeships, vocational training, and workforce development programs. He also advanced the most substantial infrastructure program in a generation, including the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall and the new Kosciuszko Bridge and the new JFK and LaGuardia Airports – all major projects built with union labor.
The two FDNY EMS unions join U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, former New York State Comptroller Carl McCall, former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Brooklyn Democratic Chair, Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Staten Island Democratic Party, Assembly Member Charles Fall, Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs, Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia, Assembly Member Latrice Walker, Assembly Member Erik Dilan, Assembly Member Jordan Wright, Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato, Assembly Member Sam Berger, Assembly Member Vivian Cook, Assembly Member John Zaccaro, Assembly Member William Colton, Council Member Kamillah Hanks, Council Member Farah N. Louis, Council Member Susan Zhuang, Council Member Darlene Mealy, Coalition of the International Union of Operating Engineers, the New York City Deputy Sheriffs’ Benevolent Association, The Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, Teamsters Local 237, Local 3 IBEW, New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters, District Council 9 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, 35 District Leaders across the city, 32 prominent Black clergy members, former National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman, the Village Reform Democratic Club, Taminent Regular Democratic Club, American Jewish Congress, and the Italian American Leadership Council in endorsing Governor Cuomo for Mayor of New York City.
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