Connecting First Responders: Public Safety in the Northeast

Today’s public safety climate is a growing concern with new dangers posing risks to individuals across the nation, ranging from fires to active shooters. It is important to implement public safety measures to ensure those affected are kept safe and first responders are connected when crises occur.

In New York City alone, there are over a million buildings that house corporate companies and over eight million residents. Under the International Fire Codes (IFC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), many of these buildings are mandated to install public safety distributed antenna systems (DAS) to keep firefighters, EMS, police, and many more first responders connected in buildings with two-way radio systems. We are proud to have provided a significant amount of wireless networking equipment to many developments in New York and the greater Northeast region of the United States.

New York City’s Hudson Yard is the largest private estate development in the U.S. by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group with 28 acres of mixed-use civic office, residential, retail, and hospitality space. The goal of Hudson Yards was to bring together people to exceptional places. Hence it became one of the top tourist attractions in 2019, with 20 million visitors throughout the year. Its prime attractions are 20 Hudson Yards, a one-million-square-foot shopping, and dining destination, a 150-foot-tall copper plated staircase, called The Vessel, and its latest addition, the outdoor sky deck, Edge, which offers unparalleled 360-degree views of the city skyline from it’s 100 and 101st floor.

By being a top location for many to gather and socialize, Hudson Yards set out to find a solution for first responders to easily communicate in the case of an emergency with reliable wireless coverage. ADRF’s ADXV distributed antenna system (DAS) was able to support the commercial needs of the development, as well as meet the ARCS system requirements to support public safety bands and all carrier networks. To meet the capacity specifications of the development, ADRF worked with key system integrators to deploy ADXV DAS to provide connectivity to multiple structures within the development, including three separate mixed-use towers as well as the ten-story, 1.2 million square foot Retail Podium.

ADRF has also implemented a four-phase public safety solution in Washington, D.C.’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Headquarters, which enforces the federal securities laws, proposes securities rules and regulates the securities industry. The building is a 1.6 million-square-foot complex with 11 floors. While the building already has a comprehensive building security service and system in place, it still required a connectivity solution that would keep first responders connected with one another during emergencies. ADRF set out to remove dead zones within the building caused by its interior finish of various granites and marbles, etched stainless steel, and insulating glass, as well as areas most commonly overlooked, such as elevators and storage rooms. The building now consists of 2 ADX head ends and 25 repeaters as well as 4 ADXV head ends and 26 repeaters that help create ubiquitous connectivity for public safety personnel throughout the entire SEC construct.

Since 1999, ADRF has evolved and provided reliable connectivity in venues of any size, shape, and location, and we continue making these connections reliable no matter the crisis that may arise.