According to NotifyNYC, "Flyovers 7/4 between 6PM-8:30 PM associated with fireworks: an American flag display, military fighter jets, and NYPD helicopters." Also from NotifyNYC, "ConEd responding to a power outage in the Bay Terrace and Ft. Totten sections of QN. Call 1-800-752-6633 to report loss of power" and "NY State DEC has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for NYC until 10 PM tonight. Visit http://bit.ly/cPgtFx for more info." more ›

Notify NYC says, "Starting today and continuing until Thursday 5/27, two small airplanes will be doing low level flyovers in the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty." more ›

Even though texting while driving is now illegal, government agencies continue to send text messages to motorists. In what the Daily News calls "an ironic communication breakdown," thousands of New York drivers receive texts about traffic and road conditions from government agencies despite a statewide ban on checking and sending texts while behind the wheel. more ›

Almost a year-and-a-half-long pilot program in four neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Staten island, the city has announced that its message alert system, NotifyNYC, will now be rolled out citywide. Notify NYC services are available by email, text message and voice message to home, office and cellular telephones. According to the press release, starting on May 28, "Residents in all five boroughs will now be able to register multiple email addresses, text message accounts and phone numbers to receive Notify NYC advisories about events in up to five zip codes." Subscribers will get emergency alerts (hello, military plane that was supposed to fly over the Hudson), like AMBER Alerts and ones about natural disaster. Plus, you can sign up for Significant Event Notifications for less-severe situations (like brush fires, extended disruptions of mass transit services and major utility outages), Public Health Notifications and "non-emergency advisories about unscheduled suspensions of alternate side parking rules and public school closures and delays. more ›

That shrill siren you may hear downtown will just be part of a test. According to NotifyNYC, the city's public messaging program, "Starting at 9:00 AM this morning and continuing on and off for several hours, Hudson County, NJ will be testing their emergency alert siren system. Loud sirens associated with this test may be heard in Lower Manhattan." (Hudson County includes Jersey City, Bayonne, Seacaucus and Hoboken.) NotifyNYC is only in four pilot communities in the city—Lower Manhattan, SW Staten Island, NE Bronx, and the Rockaways —but even if you don't live there, you can still sign up. more ›

We got a NotifyNYC alert this morning:

The Port Authority will be doing construction blasting at the World Trade Center site today beginning at 8 a.m. There will be a total of 7 controlled blasts during the day. This is a routine construction operation and there is no cause for concern.

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,... more ›