More than a third of the city’s emergency medical technicians and paramedics are expected to leave this year as they continue to suffer from a crippling pay disparity that’s left some employees so destitute that they’re living in homeless shelters, union leaders said as they called on the City Council for some much-needed relief.
Speaking at a Council budget hearing for the FDNY on Friday, Oren Barzilay, the president of EMS Local 2507, said 1,500 medical first responders “are projected to quit the service in 2026.”
The city only has 4,369 EMS members, who are the lowest-paid first responders in the five boroughs.
Such a devastating drop in personnel would certainly delay response times for medical emergencies, which have already increased by more than two minutes since 2021, Barzilay said.
“Because EMS is hemorrhaging EMTs, response times are up,” the union head said, adding that 80% of the 911 calls to the FDNY are for medical emergencies. “Medical-call volume is already at record high levels and only going up.”
“We are the unsung heroes of New York City — but we aren’t treated as heroes,” Barzilay said. “The strain on our EMS ranks is real. And it is made worse by the staggering pay disparities our EMS heroes are forced to endure.”
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Angus Mordant for New York Daily News
FDNY EMTs Kim Benson and Chris Feliciano carry equipment out of an ambulance outside the home of a Covid-19 patient in Queens in 2020. (Angus Mordant for New York Daily News)
The union pitch for pay parity comes as the city marks the 30th anniversary of the shotgun wedding that merged EMS and FDNY into a single entity back in 1996.
To this day, EMS members start their career with about $5,000 less than firefighters, who are in the same agency, union members said.
Currently, an EMT coming out of the EMS Academy starts at a salary of $39,386, union officials said. After about five years, their salary increases to $59,000. By comparison, an FDNY firefighter earns $45,196 right out of the FDNY Academy and can earn around $110,000 after five years.
“McDonald’s employees make more in some cases,” Barzilay said about EMT starting salaries, adding that the continuing low pay has forced some of his members to take drastic steps.
“Some of our personnel have been forced to reside in homeless shelters because they can’t find affordable housing on an EMS salary,” he told the Council. “Let that sink in: EMS paramedics and EMTs working for the FDNY, saving lives in New York City, the greatest city in the world, living in homeless shelters. It is a stain on the honor of New York City to treat our medical emergency heroes this way.”
FDNY EMTs are pictured at a fatal fire at 130-142 Waverly Place on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Contract bargaining sessions between EMS unions and City Hall are currently underway, but Barzilay and Vincent Variale, the president of the Uniformed Emergency Medical Service Officers Union, made their plea for raises to the City Council, which has been a longtime supporter of pay parity.
“EMS is staring down the barrel of a stunning 70% turnover rate within the next three to five years,” Variale said. “Paramedics simply cannot afford to remain paramedics and feed their families.”
In the past, the Council has proposed adding an additional $50 million to the FDNY’s budget to increase EMS salaries. Variale hoped that the Council does it again for the upcoming fiscal year.
“It is literally a matter of life and death,” he stressed. “We need to adequately compensate and resource our EMS first responders, so that they can properly protect the people of our city during health emergencies.”
Other budget requests included upgrading the FDNY’s facilities, especially city firehouses, some of which are well more than a century old.
Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore speaks during a City Council hearing on Friday, March 13, 2026, at City Hall. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)
While she has no say in the city’s budget negotiations with EMS unions, Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told the Council that pay parity was a good idea for everyone involved.
“I certainly hope that we get EMS pay squared away and we achieve EMS parity at some point so we can increase our staffing,” she told the Daily News Friday.
When questioned by the Council, Bonsignore said EMS “staffing” is a priority concern when it comes to reducing response times.
“The fewer ambulances you run, the longer it takes to get an ambulance into an assignment,” she said. “(That) is why I’ve come out so strongly in support of parity. This is not just about being fair, but this is about stabilizing an EMS system for New York. We want to create an environment where people can come and stay and be a destination itself. They can come and have a long career and help us run ambulances so that we can continue to serve the public.”
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), the chairperson of the Council’s Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, said the city “needs to have some type of pay equity for our EMS.”
FDNY leadership is sworn in before a City Council hearing on Friday, March 13, 2026, at City Hall. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)
Fixing antiquated FDNY facilities and making sure that these buildings get money that’s been earmarked for them also must be a priority, she said. In addition, boosting fire engine crews from the current norm of four smoke eaters up to five is critical, she said.
“Infrastructure is a top priority, but we also need to have a fifth firefighter to put our fires out faster,” Ariola said. “You heard Council members say they gave funding for certain items, and it still hasn’t been realized whether it’s generators or kitchens or bathrooms.”
“We’ve legislated these things,” she said.