New York City to launch new emergency notification app, 'Notify NYC'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New Yorkers will now have an easier way to stay informed about emergencies.

The New York City Emergency Management Department will launch the Notify NYC app Friday.

It's the city's first emergency notification mobile app.

When the app is downloaded, it will offer real-time emergency updates on storms, as well as major traffic and mass transit disruptions, along with school closings and unscheduled parking rule suspensions.

With the new Notify NYC app, New Yorkers can get information about emergency events and important City services, based on location. The Notify NYC mobile app is available for free download from iTunes or Google Play,

Notify NYC started as a pilot program in December of 2007 as a means to communicate localized emergency information quickly to City residents. Since its inception, Notify NYC has sent out more than 9,400 notifications about local emergencies, and its subscribership has grown to more than half a million New Yorkers.

To sign up for Notify NYC, New Yorkers can call 311, visit http://www.NYC.gov/NotifyNYC, or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter.

Subscribers can receive alerts in several ways: phone, email, SMS, fax, and Twitter, and in multiple languages, including pre-scripted mass transit alerts, fire department activity, missing person(s) alerts, public health and safety notifications, utility alerts, weather alerts, drills and exercises, alternate side parking updates, downed trees notifications, and Combined Sewer Overflow advisories.