New York City is preparing to lay off hundreds of emergency medical workers during a global pandemic as the city’s budget crisis worsens, according to the EMS union. The city is expected to lay off 400 EMS workers, according to FDNY EMS Local 257 president Oren Barzilay, who blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio and accused him of putting New Yorkers at risk. “Yesterday, we were praised as heroes, essential workers saving lives,” Barzilay said. “Today, the city government treats us like zeros. New Yorkers who lived through this deadly pandemic know otherwise.” De Blasio, who had promised a ticker-tape parade for health care workers at the end of the pandemic, said the city could cut as many as 22,000 jobs.