INEW YORK, NY (TIP): In line with the start of Atlantic hurricane season, the New York City Emergency Management Department and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella debuted the Borough Command Center (BCC) on Staten Island for emergency responders. The BCC will serve as a hub for NYC Emergency Management responders to mobilize and coordinate emergency assets during large-scale emergencies on Staten Island, allowing first responders to strategically address the specific needs of Staten Island’s communities.

“Disasters start and end locally, and this new command center will allow us to effectively respond to emergencies that affect Staten Island,” said NYC Emergency Management Zach Iscol. “We are thankful to Borough President Fossella and his office for their support in helping us continue to build a robust emergency response structure in this city.” “We are pleased to announce that a new, expanded, and state of the art NYC Emergency Management Center will be located at the Petrides Complex. Given this centralized location, we feel this site will best serve the Staten Island community and the operations of NYC Emergency Management in our borough in cases of any emergency,” said Staten Island Borough President Vito J. Fossella. “We have been working with NYC Emergency Management since January to get a site to the borough since Staten Island relies on the agency for its expertise in emergency response, preparedness, and public awareness on safety. We commend NYC Emergency Management and the Department of Education for their partnership.”

“School buildings and campuses have long served as hubs for our communities, particularly in times of hardship. I am grateful that with this new borough command center we will be able to ensure that our students and families have access to essential emergency resources, particularly as we head into hurricane season,” said Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. “I laud the incredible work that has been done to realize this center and look forward to the Department of Education’s continued partnership with Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the New York City Emergency Management Department to support our communities.” During the response to Tropical Storm Isaias, NYC Emergency Management deployed its Interagency Coordination Center to Staten Island Mall parking lot to coordinate field response operations in the borough. This mobile command center allowed the agency, along with its private partners, to strategically deploy resources throughout the borough. Under this new plan, the BCC would serve as the central hub for coordination and response.

To raise awareness of the hurricane season, NYC Emergency Management relaunched the “Know Your Zone” hurricane awareness campaign to encourage New Yorkers to find out whether they live in one of the city’s six hurricane evacuation zones. New Yorkers can visit NYC.gov/knowyourzone to find their evacuation zone designation and to get more information about how to prepare for hurricanes. The Know Your Zone campaign is a multipronged, multilingual campaign that is supported with updated advertising for the 2022 hurricane season, social media engagement (#knowyourzone), and community outreach (hurricane preparedness presentations in communities throughout the city). Through the Know Your Zone campaign, NYC Emergency Management aims to reach 3.1 million New Yorkers living within the city’s hurricane evacuation zones, which were revised in 2021. Hurricane evacuation zones are based on coastal flood risk resulting from storm surge (the “dome” of ocean water that is pushed ashore by the winds and low barometric pressure of a hurricane), the geography of the city’s low-lying neighborhoods, and the accessibility of these neighborhoods by bridges and roads. The City may order residents who live in a zone to evacuate depending on a hurricane’s forecasted strength, track, and storm surge. If you are ordered to evacuate, do so as directed.