Woke Leftist Wrecking New York Fire Department From Within

The New York City Fire Department continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons under its new woke leadership.

In the latest controversy last week, FDNY brass ordered an East Village ladder company to remove a “thin red line” flag after receiving a complaint from the office of a Democrat city council member. The flag, similar to the police “thin blue line” flag, is flown to honor deceased firefighters. The ladder company on the receiving end of the order notably lost six firefighters on 9/11.

As Fox News reported, “A staffer from Democratic Councilwoman Carlina Rivera emailed Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator Madison Hernandez March 19 relaying the concerns of a constituent who questioned whether Ladder Co. 11 was violating department rules by flying the flag.” But instead of standing behind the firefighters flying the flag, the FDNY leadership sided with Rivera’s office.

As if that weren’t bad enough, just a few days later, on April 2, a New York judge suggested that FDNY has a racism problem stemming from a March 7 incident where several firefighters booed New York Attorney General Letitia James during a FDNY promotion ceremony. Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a Clinton nominee known for liberal rulings, called the booing “vile” and alleged it “has to do with race.”

That a liberal judge should accuse FDNY of racism is particularly ironic given that the Department’s commissioner, Laura Kavanagh, has evinced nothing short of an obsession with so-called “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) policies since ascending to her post back in 2022.

Kavanagh’s response to the booing of Letitia James – who has become a liberal hero for her persecution of Donald Trump – encapsulates how she has turned FDNY into yet another tool of the woke left. According to a leaked memo following the incident, Kavanagh said she wanted to “hunt down” the firefighters who booed.

Firefighters “should understand that BITS is gathering video and identifying members that brought discredit…to the department,” the memo read. “We want the members to come forward. They will come to HQ to be educated [on] why their behavior is unacceptable.” One shudders at what such an “education” might look like.

The memo quickly generated widespread backlash both inside and outside the Department. As prominent constitutional and criminal law attorney Alan Dershowitz put it, “Firefighters have an absolute constitutional right to boo the attorney general, and the government has no power to punish them for it.”

“It was a political stunt for the city to have the AG there. When it backfired, they sent their fascist pit bulls after guys for exercising their First Amendment rights,” added a FDNY retiree.

Following intense public backlash, Chief of Department John Hodgens announced the department was closing its investigation only weeks later. He did not apologize to rank-and-file firefighters, but conceded that “hunt” was a “poor choice of words.”

These two sagas are just the latest embarrassments for Kavanagh, who has faced serious scrutiny going all the way back to her appointment by Mayor Eric Adams in February 2022.

Historically, almost every FDNY Commissioner has had some experience as a first responder. Yet Kavanagh spent most of her career as a lobbyist for left-leaning causes and groups, most infamously the now-defunct left-wing organization ACORN. She then worked on President Barack Obama’s and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s political campaigns before being appointed as a “special assistant” to de Blasio.

Kavanagh only joined FDNY in its Department of External Affairs in 2014. Just three years later, she made Deputy Commissioner before being tapped for the top job by Adams. The move instantly drew criticism from many career firefighters as well as accusations that Adams was more interested in placing a political ally in the post rather than the most qualified candidate.

Since then, Kavanagh’s critics have seemingly been proven correct, as she has run the Department according to a decidedly left-wing ideological agenda.

Soon after Kavanagh’s October 2022 swearing-in, Mayor Adams signed five bills targeting the FDNY, including a measure requiring the Department to submit annual “diversity” reports, as well as a bill requiring mandatory annual “diversity and inclusion” training for all firefighters.

Kavanagh was eager to comply, quickly appointing a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. She’s also given a litany of interviews in which she emphasizes that her main priority is making the FDNY less “white” and “male”.

Kavanagh has also appeared to use her position to dole out favors to her political allies while targeting her political enemies.

In February of last year, for instance, Kavanaugh abruptly demoted three of New York’s highest-ranked fire chiefs, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention Joe Jardin, Assistant Chief of Operations Michael Gala, and Assistant Chief of Operations Fred Schaaf, who shared a combined 150 years of experience. According to the New York Post, Kavanaugh used old and unproven Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints “to besmirch their reputations and justify her actions.”

In response, ten FDNY chiefs requested “demotion in protest.” Shortly thereafter, 15 other firefighters filed a lawsuit against Kavanagh.

Kavanagh’s tenure once again appears to prove that the DEI virus destroys everything it touches. Whether it be Harvard’s academic reputation, Bud Light’s stock price, or the largest fire department in the country, infusing woke politics into anything and everything is a recipe for disaster.

Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.