Gotham Gazette

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Emergency response plan

Emergency response plan

  • A Crucial Moment for New York City’s Mental Health Crisis Response Program

    Emergency response (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    The Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD), New York City’s attempt to reform the way 911 responds to mental health emergencies, has been operating in select neighborhoods for more than a year. And trends are heading in the wrong direction.

    B-HEARD launched in June 2021 as an alternative to NYPD-led response to mental health-related 911 calls, which can often turn...

  • Bill Mandates Board of Elections Emergency Plan

    treyger william alatriste

    City Council Member Mark Treyger, left (photo: William Alatriste) 


    New York City is no stranger to calamity, be it natural or man-made, and many city agencies have emergency response plans for varying levels of crisis. On Wednesday, City Council Member Mark Treyger will introduce a bill to ensure that the Board of Elections, which administers voting in the city, joins these agencies in formulating its own disaster-preparedness procedures for conducting the polls.

    "We have to make sure that democracy perseveres through a crisis," Treyger told

    ...