NEW YORK, NY December 05, 2007 —Four neighborhoods in the city will be able to get emergency information by e-mail and reverse 911. This is part of "Notify NYC," a pilot program that could be expanded to all 5 boroughs. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Back in August, the subway flood fiasco and the Deutsche Bank fire in lower Manhattan drove home the need for the city to improve how it gets out real-time emergency information. Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler says the city will try out using e-mail and text messaging about emergencies, as well as reverse 911 alerts where officials reach residents by cell phones and land lines. Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler -

SKYLER: Even if there's nothing for people to do, they want to know what's going on. And not knowing what's going on and not hearing from government can cause anxiety.

REPORTER: During the pilot roll-out, anyone can sign up for the notifications and updates, but the information supplied will be about lower Manhattan, southwest Staten Island, the northeast Bronx and the flood prone Rockaways. For WNYC, I'm Bob Hennelly.

The pilot programs will run until next summer.