EMS union president calls out mayor's office for removal of workers from city's mental health program
B-HEARD is a pilot program created in 2021 with the goal of addressing the city's mental health crisis as a public health issue, not a public safety problem.
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Oren Barzilay, the President of FDNY EMS Local 2507, is preparing for a legal fight with City Hall after it was announced on Friday that EMT's would be removed from the Behavioral Emergency Assistance Response Division.
B-HEARD is a pilot program created in 2021 with the goal of addressing the city's mental health crisis as a public health issue, not a public safety problem.
"We were in the middle trying to alleviate and take care of these people, and now they have to start all over with new people," Barzilay said.
Mayor Eric Adams office says EMT's and NYPD will no longer respond to certain mental health related 911 calls. Workers with NYC Health and Hospitals will respond instead.
“It’s unfair they volunteered for this, in the interest of helping others. And now they are going to be inconvenienced by being placed in another borough another station," Barzilay said.
He adds the fight is not over, as he plans on meeting with the union's attorney on Tuesday.
“You’re privatizing a public sector work...yea this is not over, this is just the beginning,” Barzilay said.
News 12 reached out to the mayor's office for a comment but had not heard back as of Saturday evening.
