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By: Meyer Wolfsheim
The former head of the FDNY, Tom Von Essen, has publicly criticized both the department’s “old boys club” and City Hall for undermining Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, setting her up for failure, NY Post reports.
Von Essen, who led the department during the 9/11 attacks, expressed his frustration in a recent interview, highlighting the lack of support Kavanagh received during her tenure as the FDNY’s first female commissioner.
“The devil is in the details,” Von Essen remarked regarding Kavanagh’s recent resignation. “The old boys club of staff chiefs at the FDNY was sure to come after her. She handled it poorly, but she was right to try and bring in younger, talented lieutenants, captains, and battalion chiefs with ambitions beyond just increasing comp time and pensions.”
Von Essen, 79, is well-versed in the FDNY’s inner workings and has experience dealing with agency officials and front-line ambulance workers, notably during his time as the NY-NJ regional director of FEMA at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He suggested that Mayor Eric Adams’ administration could have provided better support for Kavanagh as she led the country’s largest fire department.
“When Commissioner Kavanagh was appointed, they gave her a chief of staff from the NYPD—who thought that one up?” Von Essen commented, referencing Luis Martinez’s appointment by Phil Banks, Adams’ deputy for public safety.
Kavanagh’s announced departure follows a series of controversies that led some members of Adams’ administration to question her ability to lead the department. Despite this, Adams has publicly supported Kavanagh. The challenges she faced included increasing FDNY emergency response times, surges in lithium-ion battery fires, criticism from department members, and an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by officials she demoted.
Kavanagh also faced backlash after she ordered an investigation into firefighters who booed State Attorney General Letitia James and cheered for Donald Trump during a department promotion ceremony in March. Von Essen agreed that the behavior was “inappropriate” and dismissed the age discrimination lawsuit as “BS.”
He praised the rank-and-file firefighters and ambulance workers who do an excellent job despite “poor management” at the FDNY. Von Essen criticized the civil-service culture at the agency, calling it a long-term problem. “There are dozens of management improvements that need to be implemented at the FDNY. They will never happen with the same old civil-service thinking,” he said.
In response to requests for comment, the FDNY and the mayor’s office referred to Kavanagh’s statements made on PIX 11. Kavanagh expressed her desire to be a role model as the first female commissioner, acknowledging the challenges she faced. “I knew how hard it might be… I knew it would be harder. There would be some parts messy and unpleasant,” she said, adding that it was worth doing.
Kavanagh emphasized the importance of having a “really tough” and self-reflective commissioner in the future. She also expressed her anger over the booing incident at the promotion ceremony, calling it the most upset she had been during her tenure. “That’s the most mad I’ve ever been in my tenure on the job,” she stated.
