The dispatchers who work here handle all of Queens's FDNY-related 911 calls, as well as alarms coming in from fire call boxes (like the one at right, painted red) and building fire detectors.
This structure stands out from its siblings in the Bronx and Brooklyn, which look quite similar to each other.
The inscription above the center window reads "FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH STATION F.D.N.Y." This dates back to the days when fires were reported via telegraphic street-corner pull-box alarms. Many of the old telegraphic call boxes still exist in Queens, although the aforementioned box at right is one of the newer telephonic ones with separate FDNY and NYPD call buttons.
Day 1210
FDNY Queens communications dispatch office
April 23rd, 2015
This prompts questions such as:
Why can’t the fire dispatch be combined with initial 911 call – why the call transfer?
Why does there need to be a per borough dispatch center?
Can’t this all be managed digitally?
I dealt with this system from the telecom side in the early 90’s and I see that nothing has changed since then!
The dispatch operations were all moved to Metrotech center between 2007 and 2010, the bourough dispatch offices are only used as a backup site, and communications hub for the borough alarm box systems