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Emergency 911 service back online in Nassau County after outage, executive says
By
Giulia Heyward
Published May 20, 2024
Modified May 20, 2024
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Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images
By
Giulia Heyward
Published May 20, 2024
Modified May 20, 2024
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The emergency 911 system in Nassau County is back online after service went down earlier Monday evening, authorities said.
Officials were scrambling just after 5 p.m. to get the line back up for the nearly 1.4 million Long Islanders who live there. Residents were being told to reach out to their local fire department or police precincts in the meanwhile. Officials have not said what caused the outage.
"We have been informed that our 911 line is down,” County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a statement when the service went down. “The vender who operates the system has been contacted and is immediately pursuing a solution.”
Some residents posted screenshots to social media of a text alert they say they received from Nassau County, showing a mess of numbers for various offices.
It’s not the first time a 911 system in the area has gone down, leaving folks without access en masse. In 2013, New York City’s 911 system experienced repeated power outages on multiple days, leading to delayed response times for residents who tried to access the emergency lines.
The year before that, the city’s EMS 911 system briefly shut one morning before officials restored it back that afternoon.
If the service goes down again, Nassau County residents can reach out to the fire department at 516-742-3300.
The contact information for Nassau County’s local police precincts can be found below:
First Precinct: (516) 573-6100
Second Precinct: (516) 573-6200
Third Precinct: (516) 573-6300
Fourth Precinct: (516) 573-6400
Fifth Precinct: (516) 573-6500
Sixth Precinct: (516) 573-6600
Seventh Precinct: (516) 573-6700
Eighth Precinct: (516) 573-6800
This story has been updated.
Tagged
public safety
long island
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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