#27-15

NOTIFY NYC OFFERS NEW BEACH NOTIFICATION FEATURE AND CUSTOMIZED ALERT OPTIONS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON

Notification Options Now Include New "Do Not Disturb" and "Vacation" Features

June 19, 2015 — With the official start of summer around the corner, New York City Emergency Management today announced that Notify NYC, the City's official, free emergency public messaging system, has added a new beach notification feature to provide New Yorkers with up-to-date information about the latest status of the City's eight public beaches. Updates will include advisories about swimming, wading and possible unexpected closures of Rockaway Beach, Coney Island Beach, Manhattan Beach, Orchard Beach, South Beach, Midland Beach, Cedar Grove, and Wolfe's Pond Beach. Notify NYC users can customize this feature based on their favorite beach.

“New Yorkers love to spend time at the beach with their friends and family during the summer. With this new feature, we want to make sure that they are fully informed about their favorite beach before they head out to visit,” said Joseph Esposito, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner.

In addition to the beach notifications, Notify NYC also now offers “Do Not Disturb” and “Vacation” options. The “Do Not Disturb” setting allows subscribers to select a time period when they may not want to receive messages (from midnight to 5AM during weekdays, for example). When the “Do Not Disturb” feature is activated for a set period of time, Notify NYC subscribers will not receive alerts and notifications (except in the event of a life-threatening emergency). If you’re heading out of town, the “Vacation” option allows you to opt out of receiving messages while you’re away. You’ll automatically receive alerts when you return.

“We understand that New Yorkers are busy people, so we've added these new features to allow you to receive only the alerts you want, when you want them, and in the way you want them,” Commissioner Esposito said. “So if you do not want to receive alerts when you're out of town, you can activate the “Vacation” feature, and you won't receive the alerts until you’re back in the city.”

Notify NYC started as a pilot program in December of 2007 as a means to communicate localized emergency information quickly to city residents. Since its inception, Notify NYC has sent out more than 5,000 notifications about local emergencies; today, more than 300,000 New Yorkers receive alert notifications from Notify NYC. New Yorkers can sign up for emergency alerts at the newly redesigned Notify NYC website, nyc.gov/notifynyc.

Subscribers can now receive alerts in seven ways: phone, email, SMS, fax, BlackBerry PIN, Instant Messenger, and Twitter. For additional privacy, users are not asked to provide their name or street address when signing up.

Notify NYC offers nine notifications types. Enrollees can elect to receive one or more of these alerts:

Emergency Alerts — messages about life-threatening events that may require immediate action. All registrants are automatically added to this list.

Significant Event Notifications — important information about emergency events, utility outages and other types of high-impact events in your area code.

Public Health Notifications — information about important public health issues in your community.

Public School Closing/Delay Advisories — updates about unscheduled public school closings, delays, and early dismissals.

Unscheduled Parking Rules Suspensions — updates about unscheduled suspensions of citywide parking rules.

Major Mass Transit Disruptions — messages about large or widespread mass transportation disruptions.

Major Traffic Disruptions — messages about significant roadway closures, disruptions, or detours.

Waterbody Advisories — messages about combined sewer overflow (CSO) activity in New York City's waterbodies.

Beach Notifications — information from the NYC Department of Health and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation regarding the status of NYC beaches.

 

“Notify NYC strives to provide New Yorkers with the information they need to know, when they need to know it. With the addition of beach advisories and our other new features, we’re making it even easier for our citizens to stay informed,” said Ben Krakauer, NYC Emergency Management Director of Watch Command.

To use the new Notify NYC features, subscribers can log into their account at nyc.gov/notifynyc and click on the “My Account” tab. Notify NYC is a voluntary program. Personal information collected during the registration process is never used for purposes other than sending Notify NYC messages. It remains confidential. For more information about Notify NYC and the new features, or to register, visit nyc.gov/notifynyc.

###

MEDIA CONTACT:
Nancy Silvestri/Omar Bourne (718) 422-4888

STAY CONNECTED:
Twitter
@NotifiyNYC (emergency notifications)
@nycoem (emergency preparedness info)

Facebook
/NYCemergencymanagement