You are reading

FDNY Opens New $4 million EMS Station in Astoria, Holds Ribbon-Cutting Event

The FDNY has opened a new EMS station in Astoria and local leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony inside the facility Tuesday (Photo NYPD)

July 1, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

The FDNY has opened a new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) station in Astoria and local leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the facility Tuesday.

The facility, called EMS Station 49, will serve as a base for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics to serve Astoria and the rest of western Queens. The station is located in the industrial section of Astoria, near the Steinway Creek, at 19-40 42nd St. and is around 26,000 square feet in size.

The facility comes with 12 ambulance bays for its fleet of emergency vehicles, according to the FDNY.

The station is located near the Steinway Creek in the industrial section of Astoria. The 19-40 42nd St. address is marked in red (GMaps)

The station is staffed with more than 120 FDNY medical responders who will operate 28 ambulance tours each day. An ambulance tour represents one emergency vehicle in service for 911 calls for an 8-hour shift.

The facility cost around $4 million, and construction got underway in early 2020.

The FDNY originally opened EMS Station 49 in 1996, and at that time it was housed in the basement
of Mount Sinai Hospital in Astoria. In 2013, the hospital
underwent a major renovation requiring the station to move. In 2014, the station relocated into temporary space under the R.F.K Bridge while it waited for new space– which led to the opening of the 42nd Street facility.

Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and EMS Station 49 staff members were among those in attendance to cut the ribbon Tuesday.

“Station 49 is essential to our department’s operations, and to the health and safety of all Queens residents,” Kavanagh said.

“The brave and dedicated men and women who serve in Station 49… deserve this new home because they provide outstanding emergency pre-hospital medical care 24/7 to their patients.”

The station also includes offices for the lieutenants and station captain, a conference room, a kitchen and dining area, and a lactation room for mothers who are nursing. It is also stocked with personal protective equipment and medical supplies for basic and advanced life support.

The facility also has a memorial area to honor the late Carlos Lillo, a former Battalion 49 paramedic who died on 9/11, aged 37. The memorial contains photos of Lillo and his old locker.

Carlos Lillo

The facility also has a memorial for the late Carlos Lillo, a former Battalion 49 paramedic who died on 9/11, aged 37 (Photo NYPD)

Acting Chief of Department John Hodgens, who also attended the event, said staff at the station play an important role in helping residents with medical difficulties.

“Whenever I come to a new facility – the thought that always comes to my mind is all the outstanding, heroic work that will be done there by our members,” Hodgens said.

“FDNY EMTs and paramedics perform incredible acts each day – and for the members of Station 49, that will begin right here at the start of their tours.”

Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday (Photo: FDNY)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Disgraced former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran arrested on child porn charges

Former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran, who was convicted in 2014 for his role in two bribery and corruption schemes and served five years in federal prison, is in trouble with the law again.

Halloran was arrested at Miami International Airport on Saturday, March 29, and charged with possessing child pornography and transporting child pornography after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple iPad 6th Generation tablet and discovered several videos of suspected child pornography located in a hidden folder album on the phone’s photos application, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Southeast Queens man convicted of triple murder in 2022 stabbing rampage that killed girlfriend, her son and cousin: DA

A Jamaica man was convicted at trial Tuesday of murder in the first degree and other crimes for the vicious stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, her son and a visiting cousin during a bloody rampage in June 2022.

Travis Blake, 31, of 155th Street, faces up to life in prison at sentencing following the three-and-a-half-week-long trial. The jury deliberated for just two hours before reaching the guilty verdict in Queens Supreme Court.

Op-ed: The crisis facing immigrant gender-based violence survivors

April 2, 2025 By Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, Zeinab Eyega and Yasmeen Hamza

As advocates who have dedicated our careers to achieving gender equity and justice, and as the representative of and service providers for some of the most culturally diverse districts in the country, we know firsthand the importance of ensuring that survivors of gender-based violence receive support that speaks to their specific needs. In Queens, where nearly 300 languages and dialects are spoken and we face the third-highest rate of reported domestic violence in New York State, the call for culturally specific services is urgent—and it is time for us to act.