Emergency medical technicians are fuming after the NYC Council approved on Monday a pay increase for app-based grocery-delivery workers that leaves the city’s medical first responders earning less than most deliveristas.
FDNY EMTs, city workers who respond to life-saving emergencies ranging from heart attacks and seizures to stabbings and shootings, are the busiest, but likely most impoverished first responders in the country, according to Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union that represents the city’s EMTs and paramedics.
“This is not just a gigantic wage gap, but a complete and moral failure to the medically trained, frontline first responders who put their own lives in danger to save New Yorkers,” Barzilay said.
Barzilay made the strong statement after the NYC Council passed legislation this week to mandate a minimum wage increase for 20,000 grocery delivery workers. The increase brings their hourly wage to $21.44 per hour, which Barzilay said is 13% higher than the FDNY’s emergency medical responder salaries.
The pay boost is set to match raises mandated by lawmakers for app-based restaurant delivery workers, which they received in April 2025.
Barzilay said the union has been without a contract for three years.
“The city steadfastly refuses to bargain in good faith, while our brave EMTs can barely afford rent and food,” he said. “Apparently, they are trying to starve our members out of work, and the byproduct is a brain-drain of 70% of EMTs quitting within five years.”
EMS Local 2507 represents about 4,000 members. With an hourly wage of $18.94 per hour, the members make about $2.50 per hour below the minimum legal wage for the city’s private sector food delivery workers. The starting salary for FDNY EMTs is $39,386, increasing to $59,534 after five years.
Last year, FDNY EMTs and paramedics responded to 1,630,446 medical emergencies, a 15.4% jump from the number of medical emergencies at the peak of the COVID outbreak in 2020, according to union statistics.
‘The pay is unreasonable’
Nicole, an FDNY paramedic, explained that many of her colleagues are burned out from what they see and do every day in NYC. While a pay raise would not erase their stresses, workers might not need a second job to make ends meet, she explained.
“No one thinks about our working conditions, declining mental health, the toll the trauma takes on our bodies and spirits,” Nicole explained. “No one realizes the things we see when we close our eyes or what goes through our minds when it’s quiet. Pay compensation will not fix that but perhaps more of us would be able to quit our second and third jobs if pay was better.”
She even said some EMTs and paramedics live in their cars or shelters because the pay is so low.
“How sad is that? People think that we make good money, and compared to some other occupations, perhaps we do,” she said. “But the cost of living within the city where we work is way too high, and the pay is unreasonable.”
City Hall insists they’re talking it over
Mayor Eric Adams, who oversees collective bargaining with the union, is in active negotiations with the union on a pay increase. A spokesperson for Adams, who could not go into detail about the discussions, said the mayor is focused on “getting everyone the pay they deserve,” including delivery and city EMS workers.
“EMS workers have made countless sacrifices to keep New Yorkers safe, and we are deeply grateful for their efforts,” the spokesperson said. “The Adams administration has a proven track record of reaching fair labor agreements with our represented employees, and we remain in negotiation with the EMS union.”
Historically, some council members, including Speaker Adrienne Adams and Brooklyn City Council Member Justin Brannan, have advocated for increased pay for the FDNY’s first responders.
“Speaker Adams, Finance Chair Brannan and the council have consistently advocated for EMTs to receive the fair wages they deserve from mayoral administrations,” a NYC Council spokesperson said. “The mayor’s office must take its responsibility for negotiating municipal workers’ contracts seriously to deliver on this obligation for these critical first responders.”
In the meantime, Brooklyn Council Member Sandy Nurse, said in a press release that she was proud to sponsor the bill requiring third-party grocery delivery services to increase the wages.
“All delivery workers deserve to get paid a decent wage for their work, no matter what they deliver or who they work for,” she said. “These workers, many of whom come from immigrant communities, are being paid poverty wages simply because they deliver items, and sometimes even the same item, on a different app. This two-tiered wage system inhibits our goal to make NYC more affordable and livable, and as these sectors grow we refuse to leave these immigrant workers behind.”
