Ouch: Some unlikely FDNY higher-ups are stuck trying to smoke out firefighters who dared boo Attorney General Letitia James and (maybe worse) chanted “Trump” at last Thursday’s promotion ceremony.
Sorry: That was rude, but it’s obviously the brass who screwed up here: Anyone who knows the firehouse culture should’ve at least feared the crowd would act up and jeer at James as she took the stage.
Yet it seems the impromptu protest so displeased Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh that the FDNY has called for those who participated to turn themselves in, issuing an internal memo warning that (after reviews of footage from the event) those involved will get “educated [on] why their behavior is unacceptable.”
Yes, James, who has a friendly history with the firefighters union, was there to show respect — but she’s mainly been in the news of late for prosecuting the ex-prez; indeed she’s worked hard to be the most anti-Trump politician in New York (though competition is stiff).
She’s still taking her victory lap after winning a $454 million civil fraud judgment against him in February.
The audience at such events is overwhelmingly families and other firefighters, largely in plain clothes. That inevitably includes a fair number of Trump fans.
The department insists it’s not “hunting anyone down” and its search “has nothing to do with politics.”
Baloney.
Had a conservative politician been heckled, or the crowd started shouting a pro-Palestine chant, no witch hunt would’ve followed.
No: The fury is over the crowd embarrassing department leaders by voicing displeasure with a member of New York’s Democratic elite.
The warning memo read: “When you’re not on duty, feel however you want about politicians . . . Vote. Protest. That’s your right. But don’t do it on the job’s time, on other members’ time, or on their families’ time. Do it on your own time.”
But the audience didn’t make the event political, the brass did — by inviting James.
Heck, she’s also a public servant, but regularly uses her official standing to bash Trump in unprofessional ways (even going so far as to troll him on social media).
Don’t hold New York’s Bravest to a different standard of behavior when their politics clash with those of the city elite — and politics is utterly irrelevant to their lifesaving jobs, anyway.
Department brass should be wary of setting a fire they can’t put out: The FDNY already faced a huge blow to morale and a wave of resignations last year over Kavanagh’s leadership decisions.
Don’t make the same mistake twice: New York City needs its heroes.