
A new coalition of retired New York law enforcement leaders is urging the state’s elected officials to support federal legislation preserving AM radio. The letter calls for the passage of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, recently reintroduced in Congress.
Former NYPD Chiefs of Department Terence Monahan, Kenneth Corey, and Rodney Harrison, as well as former NYPD Chief of Counterintelligence John Hart, former New York State Police superintendents Steven Nigrelli and Keith Corlett, and former Buffalo Police Commissioner Joe Gramaglia are included in the alliance.
The letter, addressed to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer (D), and Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D), endorses the AM Act, citing the band’s role as a crucial emergency communication tool in emergencies like Superstorm Sandy. The bill, first introduced in 2023 and reintroduced last week, would mandate the inclusion of AM radio in all sold in the US as a safety feature.
The legislation was created in response to automakers seeking to cut the technology out of electric vehicles, citing interference issues and cost.
Despite advancing through key committees last year, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act was never brought to a vote, despite 271 House co-sponsors and a 63-member Senate supermajority. The 2025 version is quickly regaining high levels of bipartisan support, with over 40 senators, including Tammy Baldwin, John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Richard Blumenthal, and Bernie Sanders, already backing the bill.
The letter mirrors another sent in December to Sen. Schumer led by FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker and NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and co-signed by officials from the FDNY, NYPD, and Buffalo PD.
Beyond AM radio, the letter also raises concerns about public safety funding, police staffing, and transit security.