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Members of the FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service who have aged out of eligibility but could have taken 2020's canceled firefighter promotional exam will now have another shot at joining the city’s Bravest after Mayor Eric Adams signed into law a one-time waiver permitting them to take the upcoming test.
The waiver applies to all members of FDNY EMS who had not reached their 29th birthday, the application age threshold for FDNY firefighter hopefuls, by Dec. 31, 2019.
“FDNY EMS frontline workers have been there for us: 9/11, [Hurricane] Sandy, Covid- 19 we could go on and on. Their contributions are always on the front line,” Adams said before signing the bill, sponsored by Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer, into law. “Our lives were on hold for two years during Covid-19 and we need to go back and try and make people as whole as possible so that they can continue on with their lives."
The filing window for the promotional exam is Nov. 1 to Nov. 21 with the test scheduled for sometime next year. The last such exam, in December 2016, attracted 1,100 EMS workers; 900 passed and became firefighters.
“The bill will enable affected members of EMS to be eligible to take the exam just as they would have been if the exam had not been delayed by the pandemic,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who joined Adams at the bill signing, said in a statement. “The affected EMS members are already making valuable contributions to this city and the people of New York, and we value them as members of the Fire Department.”
“The Fire Department recognizes that many EMS members may have joined the FDNY with the hope of one day becoming a firefighter and would be denied that opportunity due to a phenomenon that was out of the control of the members and of the city,” Kavanagh added. “Thanks to this bill, that will no longer be the case.”
According to FDNY officials, more than 300 EMS workers who were eligible for the canceled 2020 exam have since eclipsed their 29th birthday and will now be able to sign up for the upcoming exam.
dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
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Hendrix
How about protecting their earned healthcare when they retire.The Mayor & the City Council refuse too.
They are losing many votes not passing intro bill 1099.
Thursday, October 19, 2023 Report this