NYC Fire Commissioner Steps Down

By Idy Perl

The NYC Fire Commissioner, Laura Kavanagh, announced that she will be stepping down from her current role. 

Commissioner Kavanagh is the first female Fire Commissioner in the FDNY and has held the position since 2022. Her time in office has been fraught with tension as she has been sued by several ex-fire chiefs who claimed she fired them because of their age. She has also faced criticism regarding increased response times to emergencies. 

Mayor Adams has called her a trailblazer and released a statement saying that “Commissioner Kavanagh has dedicated her life to keeping New Yorkers safe and while we’ve made it clear that she could have kept this position for as long as she wanted, we respect her decision to take the next step in her career.”

The commissioner will be keeping her position until Mayor Adams locates a new commissioner.