NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A79
SPONSOR: Pheffer Amato TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring the city of New York to replace body armor worn by
emergency services personnel every five years
PURPOSE: OF THE BILL:
This bill would require that the City of New York replace bullet proof
vests, or "body armor," for EMS workers every 5 years.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section One amends subdivision 15-148 of the administrative code to
require that the body armor that is already provided to employees within
the department of emergency medical services is replaced every 5 years.
JUSTIFICATION:
First responders always answer the call of duty which can include
responding to serious and dangerous situations. While they are currently
provided with a form of body armor, it has become apparent that their
body armor is not replaced. As the shelf life of body armor is deemed 5
years, currently NYC allows EMS workers to work with unsafe and outdated
vests. The policy appears to be that the vest you are issued when you
start is what you have throughout your career. This failure harms our
first responders as their vests cannot do the job of protecting them in
the event of an attack. This law would change that policy and ensure
that all first responders obtain updated and functioning vests.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
N/A
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
79
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring the city of New York to replace body armor worn
by emergency services personnel every five years
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 15-148 of the administrative code
2 of the city of New York, as added by local law number 60 of the city of
3 New York for the year 2024, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. The commissioner shall provide body armor to all employees of the
5 department within the bureau of emergency medical services who provide
6 emergency medical services. Such body armor shall be of the type that
7 the commissioner determines would be most suitable for the protection of
8 such employees, and shall meet ballistic and stab resistance standards
9 of the national institute of justice or any successor standards. Such
10 body armor shall be replaced every five years.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00003-01-5
