FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
#16-22

NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT'S NOTIFY NYC PROGRAM SURPASSES 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS

Notify NYC is the City's free, official emergency communications program

March 4, 2022 — More than 1 million New Yorkers are now getting notified. Notify NYC, the City's free, official emergency communications program, has reached more than 1 million subscribers. Notify NYC offers subscribers 13 notification types, including: emergency alerts, significant events, public health notifications, public school closing/delay advisories, planned events, unscheduled parking rules suspensions, major traffic and mass transit disruptions, weather notifications, waterbody advisories, and beach notifications. Subscribers can customize how and when they receive their alerts, including format, preferred language, and location, as well as when they want to receive them. Messages can be received by email, text message, phone call, the Notify NYC mobile application, RSS feed, and Twitter, and can be targeted to specific ZIP codes.

"Notify NYC is one of the best ways to learn about emergencies in the city, and I encourage every New Yorker to sign up for this free service," said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol. "We want to make sure that everyone is receiving accurate, up-to-date information when disaster strikes, and Notify NYC will help New Yorkers stay informed."

Notify NYC started as a pilot program in December 2007 to communicate localized emergency information quickly to City residents. Since its inception, Notify NYC has sent out more than 22,000 notifications about local emergencies. New Yorkers can sign up for Notify NYC to receive free emergency alerts and updates in their preferred language by visiting NYC.gov/notifynyc, calling 311 (212-639-9675 for Video Relay Service, or TTY: 212-504-4115), following @NotifyNYC on Twitter, or getting the free Notify NYC mobile application for their Apple or Android device. The program also has a short code messaging service for localized emergencies, planned events, and the City's COVID-19 pandemic response. New Yorkers can text a specific keyword to 692692 (NYCNYC) to receive information via a short code message service (SMS).

In addition to multiple formats, Notify NYC messages are available in multiple languages, including English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, Yiddish, and American Sign Language (ASL) video format. Subscribers now have the option to receive multilingual Notify NYC messages on Twitter by following @NNYCArabic, @NNYCBengali, @NNYCChinese, @NNYCFrench, @NNYCCreole, @NNYCItalian, @NNYCKorean, @NNYCPolish, @NNYCRussian, @NNYCSpanish, @NNYCUrdu, or @NNYCYiddish.

Notify NYC is just one way the City of New York seeks to communicate urgent information to City residents. In addition to sending e-mails, text messages, tweets, and phone calls, NYC Emergency Management can activate NYC's Emergency Alert System (EAS), which sends information immediately via television and radio, and issue Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which are critical emergency updates issued to all equipped cell phones in NYC. To learn more about the Notify NYC program or to sign up, visit NYC.gov/notifynyc or call 311.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Press Office (718) 422-4888
STAY CONNECTED: Twitter: @NotifyNYC (emergency notifications); @nycemergencymgt (emergency preparedness info); Facebook: /NYCemergencymanagement