New FDNY boss Robert Tucker’s swearing-in speeches spark fresh fires for department: ‘Self-inflicted wound’
The FDNY’s new commissioner is getting a baptism of fire.
Robert Tucker — who was named head of the Fire Department on Monday — is already facing fresh fire from rank-and-file rankled by how the city handled his swearing-in ceremony.
Sources said that Mayor Eric Adams’ speech touting former commissioner Laura Kavanagh’s work fighting lithium-ion battery fires and his promise to quench internal departmental blazes that engulfed her tenure had inflamed many of New York’s Bravest.
“The mayor talked about putting out fires and he started a new one,” an FDNY supervisor source said.
Some were also stunned that Regina Wilson — an FDNY veteran and head of the black firefighters’ group the Vulcan Society who waged a discrimination lawsuit against the department — not only took the stage to speak during the ceremony, in an apparent last-minute addition by City Hall, but also was given final say over the commissioner pick.
“The fires burning, it seemed like a self-inflicted wound,” one source said.
“You’re going to equate lithium-ion battery fires with culture inside firehouses — we have a 9/11-related death almost each week,” the source noted.
The FDNY supervisor said Tucker did say counted as a “double-win” that got rid of Kavanagh and replaced her with someone who knows the department, before turning to lambasting Adams for seemingly only consulting with the Vulcan Society on the pick.
“Since when do you ask a president of one fraternal group to OK your choice for commissioner?” the source griped. “There are a lot of other groups that would like to be asked. In two-and-a-half years Mayor Adams hasn’t learned anything about politics.”
Adams, during his speech introducing Tucker at the FDNY Fire Academy building on Randall’s Island, brought up longtime cultural “fires that were burning inside the agency” — which some sources said would do more to rekindle controversies over discrimination than extinguish them.
He touted Tucker’s resume and argued he can mend fences inside the department that have been broken for decades.
“I knew that Robert could do it and take this department to the next level,” Adams said about the new FDNY boss, a businessman and lawyer with lifelong ties to the department, though no direct firefighting experience.
“I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the role Commissioner Kavanagh played,” he said, tipping his hat toward her struggle of being the FDNY’s first female leader and her role in battling a growing scourge of lithium-ion battery fires.
Tucker’s appointment was an unsurprising pick, nearing on an open secret, by Adams after previous fire boss Kavanagh said she’d be stepping down following a fraught two-year tenure.
Kavanagh, the first woman to lead the FDNY, had many clashes with the male-dominated culture within the department, including an age discrimination lawsuit filed that accused her of purging older brass in favor of young, less-experienced chiefs.
One FDNY source said it sounded like the speakers were speaking more to age discrimination suit’s judge than rank-and-file smoke eaters.
The rancor belied Tucker’s promise during a speech after his swearing in to make things easier for beleaguered Bravest.
“I know my role here, you are out doing the hard job and I’m here to make that easier,” he told firefighters.
“I can think of no higher calling than serving as the FDNY commissioner.”
Tucker, who heads security giant T&M as CEO and chairman, recounted his teen job as an FDNY intern in its communications department and flashed his badge as he did so.
He acted as the board secretary of the FDNY Foundation and was named an honorary fire commissioner in 2014.
Tucker’s appointment stoked hopeful plaudits from fire union bigwigs, who had tumultuous relationship with Kavanagh and huddled with the new commissioner after the ceremony.
“His long-standing relationship with public services, specifically his work on the board of the FDNY Foundation, gives him an insight into the complexity and culture of the FDNY,” said James Brosi, president of the FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association, in a statement.
“His leadership and executive experience in the private sector should enable him to effectively confront the challenges of the FDNY.”
Andrew Ansbro, who heads the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association, said Tucker’s experience could help the department increase unit availability, and thus decrease response times.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola, who chairs the legislative body’s fire committee, said Tucker provides a “fresh start.”
“The FDNY has faced its fair share of challenges in recent years, and it no doubt will face a number of challenges in the future,” she said.
“With the support and leadership of Mr. Tucker, who has a deep pool of experience when it comes to running major organizations and a history of advocacy for the men and women of the Fire Department, I am certain that New York’s Bravest will be able to endure whatever bumps in the road the years ahead bring their way and emerge stronger than ever.”
Tom Von Essen, the FDNY commissioner during 9/11 attacks and the NY regional FEMA director during the COVID-19 pandemic, said he was hopeful about Tucker — but added he has his work cut out for him.
“Admires the Mission. Respects the troops,” Von Essen said of Tucker.
“Solid businessman so he will be surprised at how poorly managed [the FDNY is]. Needs a good team around him to succeed.”
But one prominent union leader found Tucker’s remarks gave the department’s EMS workers short shrift.
Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, said Gotham’s medical first responders and fire prevention inspectors, or FPIs, should be treated as equals.
“Our members were completely relegated to a postscript mention in the new commissioner’s remarks, which is an insult to thousands who wear the uniform as FDNY EMTs, paramedics and fire protection inspectors,” Barzilay said.
“Once again, it goes to show that things will never change in the FDNY. EMS and FPIs will always be second-class, stepchildren.”
— Additional reporting by Carl Campanile
