Documents › Board of Trustees Work Session, 2025-11-12

correspondence 2 pages

November 6, 2025 Mr. Andrew Buder Metro-North Railroad 420 Lexington Avenue, 12th Floor New York, New York 10170 Dear Mr. Buder: The Village of Croton-on-Hudson would like to highlight several serious safety concerns related to the Harmon Yards that have been reported by our volunteer first responders from the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department (CFD) and Croton EMS. Between January and October 2025, the CFD responded to 50 calls inside the Harmon Yards -- an average of about five per month. Notably, 28% of these calls occurred between midnight and 8:00 a.m. The vast majority of these incidents involve alarm activations due to smoke from the trains causing the alarms to go off accidentally. Our volunteer firefighters have reported that, upon arrival, there are frequently no MTA personnel on-site to guide them to the building or area where the alarm was triggered. In many cases, private security at the gate is unaware that an alarm is even sounding. This forces our volunteers to search the property to locate the potential emergency -- losing valuable time that could make the difference in a true emergency. While most of these calls ultimately turn out to be false alarms, they still require a full emergency response and place an unnecessary strain on our volunteer fire department and their limited resources. During the same period, Croton EMS has responded to 39 calls to the Harmon Yards -- an average of roughly four per month—and faces the same issue of not being provided with an exact location. This uncertainty during emergency medical calls could pose life-threatening risks to MTA employees and adds additional burden on our volunteer EMS providers. The Village hopes to collaborate with the MTA to improve safety and communication at the Harmon Yards. We respectfully offer the following recommendations: 1. Designated MTA personnel should meet first responders at the gate to direct them immediately to the emergency location. 2. Private security staff should be given real-time access to alarm and incident locations so they can assist emergency crews upon arrival. 3. The MTA fire brigade should respond to the alarms first and determine if the alarm is legitimate or if it is false alarm. Mayor Brian Pugh Trustees Nora Moriarty Nicholson Cara Politi Len Simon Maria F. Slippen Village Manager Bryan T. Healy Village Treasurer Genette Toone Village Clerk Pauline DiSanto Village Engineer Vincent Salanitro, P.E. Our volunteer first responders serve the community with dedication and professionalism. However, these recurring false alarms and access challenges are placing an increasing strain on their time, energy, and morale. We urge the MTA to partner with the Village to ensure safer, faster, and more efficient emergency responses at the Harmon Yards. Cc: Mayor Brian Pugh & Village Board of Trustees Philip Dinkler, Fire Chief & EMS Department Head