Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yesterday blasted the organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, charging their decision to move the Bravest contingent back in the march order “makes no sense.”
“It defies logic and reason,” fumed Scoppetta after testifying at a City Council hearing.
“It makes little sense to us. We’re really disappointed,” he told reporters in his first comment on the controversy.
Parade organizers have pushed the FDNY contingent back because they are upset that the firefighters held up the parade last year to allow New Orleans firefighters to join in.
The New Orleans crew unfurled a banner that thanked New York for its help and support during Hurricane Katrina – but that took a while to do and it held up the parade.
Parade organizers said unfurling the banner held the parade up for 35 minutes.
“If that parade was delayed by a number of minutes, then that time was well invested,” Scoppetta said.
Usually the Fire Department – whose members carry 343 American flags in honor of the firefighters killed on 9/11 – marches at the front of the parade with the Police Department and the Fighting 69th Infantry band.
FDNY brass tried to talk parade organizers into changing their mind – but had no luck.
“We spoke to parade organizers,” Scoppetta said.
“At first we thought there would be a chance of some change – but they are keeping with their decision.”
A call to parade organizers wasn’t immediately returned yesterday.
But John Dunleavy, the veteran chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Committee, recently told The Post he’s not budging an inch.
“I’m not anti-firefighter but they think they are a law unto themselves – they think they run the parade,” he said.
“They don’t – and I may have gotten their attention.”
“I’ve been telling them for years that the parade should only be for firefighters from New York and when the New Orleans firefighters came up, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.
“Shame on them if they didn’t know the rules.”
The year after 9/11, there was an invitation for all firefighters to march in the parade.
Some firefighters say Dunleavy isn’t as angry about the holdup as he is about the fact that the FDNY gets so much attention – and TV time – during the parade.
Union officials were burning mad over the decision.
“I’m pissed off. Mad as hell. A load of b.s,” said Pete Gorman, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association.
But Scoppetta said the FDNY still plans to march in the parade Saturday – despite the diss.
“We’ll be there,” he said. “We’re not going to disappoint anyone.”
“There’s never been a St. Patrick’s Day parade where the Fire Department doesn’t get a warm response,” he said. “It’s a big day for the Fire Department and we’ll be there – but we’re disappointed.”
Parade organizers also have taken heat for banning gays and lesbians in past years.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is Irish and openly gay, said yesterday it’s unfortunate she has to go to Dublin, to march in an inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade.