Fireplace Commissioner Laura Kavanagh — who confirmed she was quitting over the weekend — was pushed out after she burned too many bridges with rank-and-file Bravest, sources with data of the state of affairs informed The Publish Monday.
The FDNY’s first girl fireplace boss’ tenure lastly went up in smoke after The Publish’s current unique report that she texted Lawyer Normal Letitia James an apology for failing to “repair” sexist males within the division’s workforce, sources stated.
Sources stated Kavanagh — who got here underneath fireplace a number of occasions throughout her practically two years on the helm of the division — resigned after being informed officers have been lining up one other potential job for her inside Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Kavanagh seemingly stay within the function for longer, as sources stated it’s anticipated that it’ll take Adams a number of weeks or months to select a substitute. It’s unclear whether or not the mayor plans to call an interim commissioner within the meantime.
FDNY sources stated that whereas Adams would love Kavanagh to remain within the administration, she seems to be eyeing a job exterior Metropolis Corridor, or may presumably go away metropolis authorities.
Kavanagh didn’t instantly return a message on Monday. Metropolis Corridor and FDNY officers sidestepped requests for touch upon the reputed ouster, referring The Publish to an Adams assertion indicating “she may have saved this place for so long as she wished.”
“What she does subsequent is a query for the commissioner,” stated Fabien Levy, deputy mayor for communications. “Just like the mayor’s assertion makes clear, she is a trusted member of the administration.”
Sources informed The Publish that at the least two potential successors, each males, are being thought of: Robert S. Tucker, a safety agency CEO who was a prime contender for the job earlier than Kavanagh’s appointment in 2022, and the FDNY’s Chief Range and Inclusion Officer Kwame Cooper.
The primary job for whoever takes over the FDNY seemingly will likely be to quell the burning resentments amongst older smoke eaters who consider Kavanagh dangerously sought to purge seasoned chiefs with youthful, inexperienced employees.
A bunch of older FDNY leaders detailed these accusations in a scathing age discrimination lawsuit in opposition to Kavanagh, contending and her deputies sought to demote, reassign or in any other case sideline older high-ranking firefighters.
The swimsuit — which is ongoing — factored into Kavanagh’s departure, a supply informed The Publish.
Jim Walden, an lawyer for the chiefs suing Kavanagh, stated they have been grateful for her coming departure.
“It’s no shock,” he stated.
“Kavanagh disrespected and victimized a number of the most embellished heroes serving the FDNY. The town can now settle the claims in our lawsuit, or topic Kavanagh to a bruising deposition: both manner our shoppers will get justice.”
Although thought to be trail-blazing, Kavanagh has largely been within the sizzling seat since taking on the FDNY in 2022 from former fireplace boss Daniel Nigro
Past her bombshell age-discrimination lawsuit, the embattled soon-to-be former Commish has confronted a slew of further controversies一 from rising FDNY emergency-response occasions, accusations of prohibiting political expression, breaches of belief and requires termination.
Kavanagh most lately confronted jeers from a crowd on the metropolis’s annual St.Patrick’s Day parade after publicly apologizing for Trump-supporting attendees’ boos at James, the lawyer basic, throughout an FDNY promotional ceremony.
Kavanagh additionally privately apologized to AG James, saying she wished to “repair” the habits of the FDNY’s predominately male workforce however in the end couldn’t.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t cease them,” Kavanagh wrote James, in line with textual content messages obtained by The Publish.
Unhappiness over the texts inside the Adams administration prompted Kavanagh to sit down down with Deputy Mayor for Public Security Phil Banks final week, insiders stated.
One other face-to-face between Kavanagh and Banks was abruptly canceled.
But it surely seems the long-under-fire Kavanagh’s time had run out.
Joann Ariola, a Queens Republican who chairs the Metropolis Council’s fireplace committee, tweeted she was glad the mayor “took the motion of eradicating her.”
“If there was one factor that wanted to be mounted within the @FDNY, it was her, and I’m glad that the administration has come to this choice earlier than she was capable of do any extra harm to the women and men of New York’s Bravest,” Ariola wrote.
— Extra reporting by Zoe Hussain and Susan Edelman
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