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By: Serach Nissim
Embattled FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh is resigning after a series of controversies.
On Saturday, the NY Post reported that the FDNY boss would quit her $243,171-a-year position, following several incidents which left some at City Hall to question her ability to lead the country’s largest fire department. She wrote in an email to The Post that she feels it’s time to step aside and explore other career opportunities. “While the decision I have made over the last month has been a hard one, I’m confident that it is time for me to pass the torch to the next leader of the finest Fire Department in the world. I look forward to spending the next several months assisting the department’s transition in leadership, before embarking on my next professional challenge,” Kavanagh wrote. She plans to stay until she can help find a replacement.
“My dedication to the FDNY has never and will never waver,” Kavanagh, 42, wrote. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to devote the last 10 years — five as first deputy commissioner and more than two as commissioner — to advocating for the men and women of the FDNY.
On Sunday Kavanagh, who was hired by Adams in 2022 as New York City’s first female fire commissioner, officially announced in a statement that she is stepping down. Per Fox News, a separate statement was issued from Mayor Adams, saying that the city “respects her decision.” “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,” Adams said.
Of late, Kavanagh has come under fire, with criticism from both inside and outside the FDNY. At the annual NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade in March, Kavanagh was jeered while marching, a week after she promised to “hunt” down firefighters who had booed Attorney General Letitia James during an FDNY ceremony.
Per the Post, she texted James saying: “I should have called you last night, but I’ve been trying to find a way to say I’m sorry that doesn’t involve me apologizing for men who don’t deserve such grace,” texted Kavanagh, according to records The Post obtained from the AG’s office through a Freedom of Information Law request. “I haven’t succeeded. I am sorry that we didn’t stop them and that I can’t fix them.” She has also been criticized for rising FDNY emergency-response times under her leadership, as well as a jump in lithium-ion battery fires citywide. Also, she has received repeated criticism from subordinates in the department and was slapped with an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by department honchos which she had recently demoted.
City Hall sources called some of the criticism unfair, noting that factors such as increased traffic and fewer ambulances and fire trucks on the road impacted response times beyond her control.
Earlier on Saturday, just minutes before Kavanagh’s email to The Post, Mayor Adams had showed his strong support for her, despite the widespread criticism. “I love her style — I want her in my administration, whichever she decides to do,” he told The Post. “She sat down with me some time ago and said ‘I’m looking to do some other things in my life at this moment,’ and whenever she decides to do so, she will.”
