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New York City Emergency Management
New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) was founded in 1996, originally as the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, to serve as the city's central hub for coordinating emergency planning and response. It brings together dozens of city agencies, nonprofit partners, and private-sector stakeholders to prepare for and respond to disasters — from hurricanes and blackouts to extreme heat and public health emergencies — across a city of 8.5 million people, and it runs Notify NYC, the City's free emergency alert system used by more than 1.5 million subscribers.
What's working
- How many Days Emergency Operations Center were activated?: 50 days — increasing overall, though activation fell sharply as the asylum response wound down
- How many full-scale and functional exercises/drills are there?: 18 exercises/drills — recovering toward pre-2023 levels after resources temporarily shifted to the asylum-seeker response
- How many participants at emergency preparedness education sessions are there?: 27,669 sessions — climbing back up as NYCEM expanded outreach events and its Ready New York education program
- and 4 more below
What's getting worse
- How many tabletop exercises are there?: 22 exercises — misses target by 9 exercises
Critical indicators
With a numeric target
How many full-scale and functional exercises/drills are there?
18 exercises/drills — recovering toward pre-2023 levels after resources temporarily shifted to the asylum-seeker responseBeats target by 4 exercises/drills
How many full-scale and functional exercises/drills are there?
18 exercises/drills — recovering toward pre-2023 levels after resources temporarily shifted to the asylum-seeker responseBeats target by 4 exercises/drills
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 20 exercises/drills | 14 exercises/drills |
| FY23 | 8 exercises/drills | 14 exercises/drills |
| FY24 | 13 exercises/drills | 14 exercises/drills |
| FY25 | 13 exercises/drills | 14 exercises/drills |
| FY26 (YTD) | 18 exercises/drills | 14 exercises/drills |
NYCEM's own reporting attributes the drop from 20 exercises in Fiscal 2022 to just 8 in Fiscal 2023 to agency resources being diverted to support the City's asylum seeker operations that year. The count recovered to 13 in Fiscal 2024 and held steady in Fiscal 2025.
Researched July 16, 2026 — NYCEM, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, NYCEM, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report
Why this is tracked
NYC Emergency Management (created in 1996, made a permanent Charter agency in 2001) is responsible not just for responding to disasters but for preparing City agencies, residents, and outside partners in advance — through planning, drills, and public education — so a response isn't being improvised from scratch when an emergency happens. The agency's own experience on September 11, 2001, when its Emergency Operations Center in 7 World Trade Center was destroyed, is often cited as the event that most shaped how seriously the City now treats advance preparedness.
How many tabletop exercises are there?
22 exercisesMisses target by 9 exercises
How many tabletop exercises are there?
22 exercisesMisses target by 9 exercises
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 45 exercises | 31 exercises |
| FY23 | 36 exercises | 31 exercises |
| FY24 | 25 exercises | 31 exercises |
| FY25 | 24 exercises | 31 exercises |
| FY26 (YTD) | 22 exercises | 31 exercises |
This indicator has swung sharply within the lookback window — a simple up/down label would oversimplify it, so no trend badge is shown here. See the chart and table above for the full picture.
Why this is tracked
NYC Emergency Management (created in 1996, made a permanent Charter agency in 2001) is responsible not just for responding to disasters but for preparing City agencies, residents, and outside partners in advance — through planning, drills, and public education — so a response isn't being improvised from scratch when an emergency happens. The agency's own experience on September 11, 2001, when its Emergency Operations Center in 7 World Trade Center was destroyed, is often cited as the event that most shaped how seriously the City now treats advance preparedness.
How many participants at instructor-led emergency management training sessions are there?
1,603 sessionsBeats target by 603 sessions
How many participants at instructor-led emergency management training sessions are there?
1,603 sessionsBeats target by 603 sessions
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 1,384 sessions | 2,500 sessions |
| FY23 | 1,575 sessions | 2,500 sessions |
| FY24 | 1,835 sessions | 1,000 sessions |
| FY25 | 1,987 sessions | 1,000 sessions |
| FY26 (YTD) | 1,603 sessions | 1,000 sessions |
1,603 sessions in FY26 — met the City's own target for this indicator (603 sessions above the 1,000 sessions target), and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
NYC Emergency Management (created in 1996, made a permanent Charter agency in 2001) is responsible not just for responding to disasters but for preparing City agencies, residents, and outside partners in advance — through planning, drills, and public education — so a response isn't being improvised from scratch when an emergency happens. The agency's own experience on September 11, 2001, when its Emergency Operations Center in 7 World Trade Center was destroyed, is often cited as the event that most shaped how seriously the City now treats advance preparedness.
On average, what is the time from incident to issuing of Notify NYC message?
6 min 34 secBeats target by 26 sec
On average, what is the time from incident to issuing of Notify NYC message?
6 min 34 secBeats target by 26 sec
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 6 min 20 sec | 7 min |
| FY23 | 6 min 26 sec | 7 min |
| FY24 | 6 min 53 sec | 7 min |
| FY25 | 6 min 24 sec | 7 min |
| FY26 (YTD) | 6 min 34 sec | 7 min |
6 min 34 sec in FY26 — met the City's own target for this indicator (26 sec below the 7 min target), though it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The Office of Emergency Management was formed in 1996 under Mayor Giuliani to coordinate citywide disaster response across the many separate agencies (police, fire, health, transportation) that need to work together in a crisis, and voters made it a permanent City Charter agency in 2001. Its own headquarters and Emergency Operations Center, located in 7 World Trade Center, was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, forcing the agency to relocate and rebuild while helping coordinate the City's response to the worst disaster in its history.
How many participants at emergency preparedness education sessions are there?
27,669 sessions — climbing back up as NYCEM expanded outreach events and its Ready New York education programBeats target by 2,669 sessions
How many participants at emergency preparedness education sessions are there?
27,669 sessions — climbing back up as NYCEM expanded outreach events and its Ready New York education programBeats target by 2,669 sessions
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 50,854 sessions | 75,000 sessions |
| FY23 | 25,565 sessions | 75,000 sessions |
| FY24 | 26,102 sessions | 25,000 sessions |
| FY25 | 33,610 sessions | 25,000 sessions |
| FY26 (YTD) | 27,669 sessions | 25,000 sessions |
The Fiscal 2023 drop is directly attributed by NYCEM to the departure of temporary COVID-19 outreach staff, which cut the agency's capacity to run preparedness sessions by half. Attendance has since climbed back through Fiscal 2025 and into Fiscal 2026 as NYCEM expanded outreach events and its Ready New York education program.
Researched July 16, 2026 — NYCEM, Fiscal 2023 Mayor's Management Report, NYCEM, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report, NYCEM, Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report
Why this is tracked
NYC Emergency Management (created in 1996, made a permanent Charter agency in 2001) is responsible not just for responding to disasters but for preparing City agencies, residents, and outside partners in advance — through planning, drills, and public education — so a response isn't being improvised from scratch when an emergency happens. The agency's own experience on September 11, 2001, when its Emergency Operations Center in 7 World Trade Center was destroyed, is often cited as the event that most shaped how seriously the City now treats advance preparedness.
Without a numeric target
How many Days Emergency Operations Center were activated?
50 days — increasing overall, though activation fell sharply as the asylum response wound down
How many Days Emergency Operations Center were activated?
50 days — increasing overall, though activation fell sharply as the asylum response wound down
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above. The dashed marker projects a full-year estimate at the current year-to-date pace.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 365 days |
| FY23 | 350 days |
| FY24 | 366 days |
| FY25 | 365 days |
| FY26 (YTD) | 50 days |
| FY26 (projected) | ~67 days |
NYCEM's Emergency Operations Center stayed activated almost every day from Fiscal 2022 through Fiscal 2025, largely because of the citywide response to the asylum seeker influx (which ran through May 2024) plus other major events like the CrowdStrike outage and severe weather. The sharp drop shown for Fiscal 2026 reflects NYCEM's own reporting that EOC activation fell about 90 percent in the first four months of the year as its role in asylum seeker operations wound down.
Researched July 16, 2026 — NYCEM, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report, NYCEM, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, NYCEM, Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report
Why this is tracked
The Office of Emergency Management was formed in 1996 under Mayor Giuliani to coordinate citywide disaster response across the many separate agencies (police, fire, health, transportation) that need to work together in a crisis, and voters made it a permanent City Charter agency in 2001. Its own headquarters and Emergency Operations Center, located in 7 World Trade Center, was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, forcing the agency to relocate and rebuild while helping coordinate the City's response to the worst disaster in its history.
How many Community Emergency Response Team volunteer hours are there?
12,836 hrs
How many Community Emergency Response Team volunteer hours are there?
12,836 hrs
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 8,699 hrs |
| FY23 | 8,963 hrs |
| FY24 | 12,388 hrs |
| FY25 | 10,809 hrs |
| FY26 (YTD) | 12,836 hrs |
12,836 hrs in FY26 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The Office of Emergency Management was formed in 1996 under Mayor Giuliani to coordinate citywide disaster response across the many separate agencies (police, fire, health, transportation) that need to work together in a crisis, and voters made it a permanent City Charter agency in 2001. Its own headquarters and Emergency Operations Center, located in 7 World Trade Center, was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, forcing the agency to relocate and rebuild while helping coordinate the City's response to the worst disaster in its history.
How many subscribers to Notify NYC, CorpNet, Advance Warning System, and Community Preparedness Newsletter are there?
1,576,043 subscribers
How many subscribers to Notify NYC, CorpNet, Advance Warning System, and Community Preparedness Newsletter are there?
1,576,043 subscribers
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 1,061,723 subscribers |
| FY23 | 1,159,984 subscribers |
| FY24 | 1,240,585 subscribers |
| FY25 | 1,341,056 subscribers |
| FY26 (YTD) | 1,576,043 subscribers |
1,576,043 subscribers in FY26 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
NYC Emergency Management (created in 1996, made a permanent Charter agency in 2001) is responsible not just for responding to disasters but for preparing City agencies, residents, and outside partners in advance — through planning, drills, and public education — so a response isn't being improvised from scratch when an emergency happens. The agency's own experience on September 11, 2001, when its Emergency Operations Center in 7 World Trade Center was destroyed, is often cited as the event that most shaped how seriously the City now treats advance preparedness.