City Moves to Nix Street Alarm Boxes

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Just as we were wrapping our heads around losing the V and W trains and the Crown Vics, the Bloomberg administration is renewing efforts to get rid of another city classic: streetside emergency-help boxes. They've asked a federal court to lift an injunction that would let them remove 15,000 of the boxes from the streets, claiming that they're obsolete in an age of cell phones. But advocates say that removing the boxes could discriminate against the city's deaf residents.

The boxes cost about $9 million a year to maintain, and the city says that about 9 out of 10 of the calls are false alarms. They also claim that the city's deaf residents can use payphones and a special tapping code to tell 911 whether they want to report a police or fire emergency. But lawyer Robert B. Stulberg says pay phones are so scarce that it would be ridiculous to rely on them in the case of an emergency. He told the Times, "Requiring the deaf and hearing-impaired to tap on public pay phones to summon fire or police services would be wholly ineffective, discriminatory, and irresponsible." A law professor added, "In an emergency, are people going to have both the time and the presence of mind to be able to able to think about a tapping system?"

In order to get rid of the boxes, the City Council would have to repeal a law stating that there must be one box every four blocks. Bloomberg has asked the Federal District Court in Manhattan to lift an injunction granted in 1996 which blocked a similar plan put into play by Giuliani. So, has anyone ever had to use one of these for an actual emergency, or are you one of the 9 out of 10 that just wants to prank the system?

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By Jaya Saxena in News on June 26, 2010 3:05 PM

Comments [rss]

asg749d

The city should turn them into free access points for wifi. Same with public phones.

potsmoker

politics are a scam, the $9MM to maintain is the problem, not that some commenters decide that well if they never seen it used then it must not be needed, the truth is if and when its needed its there and used and thats important.

you could spend way less than 9 million and get a better service contract and install a cam that takes a picture and records who uses it only in cases of false alarms.

whitecastlerock

In a city of over 8 million people, chances are that a deaf person won't be the only person who needs to report a fire by using the pull box on the corner of their block.

LB

How in the hell does a deaf person use a Fire call box in the first place ? Doesn't the whole concept of the action require a two sided conversation ? Seriously, How can a person deaf of hearing going to report a fire and "HEAR" the operator's questions ? I'm confused , Somebody explain this shit to me !

potsmoker

a deaf or mute person can hit the button and police or fire will respond to the location of the box automatically without any further info needed.

the idea isnt really confusing?

aydiosmio

Because the term call is misleading. It's just a pull handle that signals emergency services, like the red pull handles inside buildings.

silver

Why not rent the fire alarm boxes to be cell towers. That will pay for maintenance.

Stevennnn

Maybe it's too low to the ground?

Most people don't know where they're located to begin with anyway.

nicemarmot

They...maintain those things? Their idea of maintenance is rather subpar. As in, making the MTA look really good.

ANGRYGOD11

Aside from 9 Million/year for maintainance, false alarms cost lives.

It would be cheaper to provide the deaf with cellphones(assuming they don't have their own special phones, already). The other problem with callboxes is nobody knows where they are located if you see a fire outside your neighborhood. I don't know where the closest one is in my own neighborhood.