Press Release

For Immediate Release
#31-21

NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT'S LATEST EPISODE OF ¡PREPARÁTE! DISCUSSES NOTIFY NYC AND HOW THE FREE ALERT EMERGENCY SYSTEM KEEPS NEW YORKERS INFORMED DURING EMERGENCIES

#¡Prepárate! {Click to listen to episode 2}


July 8, 2021 — Staying informed about the latest emergencies can have a huge impact on how New Yorkers are able to respond during a crisis. On the latest episode of ¡Prepárate!, NYC Emergency Management’s Spanish language podcast, Aralis Hillsman, a public warning specialist with the agency, discusses how Notify NYC, the City’s official emergency communications program, provides accurate, timely information to the public before, during, and after an emergency. Notify NYC’s messages can range from information on traffic, fires, parades, and public transportation delays, to severe weather or health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. Hillsman shares how the service offers New Yorkers a tool to stay up-to-date and take appropriate actions when disaster strikes.

Notify NYC is the City’s free, official source for information about emergency events. The service started as a pilot program in December 2007 in four neighborhoods. It went citywide in May 2009 to communicate localized emergency information quickly to city residents. Since its inception, Notify NYC has sent out approximately 20,000 messages and has grown to approximately 916,000 subscribers. New Yorkers are able to receive alerts in multiple formats and in their preferred language about local emergencies. The service is available in 13 languages and has American Sign Language capabilities. New Yorkers also can download the Notify NYC mobile application, which is available for free from iTunes or Google Play.

In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Notify NYC also created an SMS short code in English and Spanish to provide a streamlined method for individuals to receive critical information. To date, over 870,000 users have signed up for Notify NYC COVID-19 text alerts in English, and 31,000 in Spanish. Notify NYC is also available on Twitter in English, Spanish and Chinese.

To learn more about the Notify NYC program or to sign up, visit NYC.gov/NotifyNYC, call 311 (212-639-9675 for Video Relay Service, or TTY: 212-504-4115), or follow @NNYCSpanish on Twitter.

You can listen to ¡Prepárate! on SoundCloud, and subscribe now to stay up-to-date on the latest episodes. 

Profile
Aralis Hillsman joined NYC Emergency Management as a public warning specialist for Notify NYC in 2018. Prior to joining the agency, Aralis worked as a consultant for NYC Emergency Management with the Ready New York program and the New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. In early 2020, Hillsman was part of a team from NYC Emergency Management deployed to Puerto Rico to assist in the recovery and response following a series of earthquake. Hillsman was assigned to communicate information on extended recovery efforts with local leaders at the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency. Hillsman holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Syracuse University, and received her master's degree in emergency management from the Metropolitan College of New York.
 
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MEDIA CONTACT: Inés Bebea/Yokarina Duarte (718) 422-4888

STAY CONNECTED: Twitter:  @NotifyNYC (emergency notifications); @nycoem (emergency preparedness info) Facebook: /NYCemergencymanagement