New FDNY commissioner

Well that’s certainly interesting, wonder if it will speed up or slowdown the EMS un-merger?
 
honestly? NYC has had a history of picking some questionable Commissioners (as per Wikipedia), and by questionable, I mean people without firefighter experience, especially at the senior level, so I don't think this is that much of a big deal. Also, just because the commissioner lacks firefighter credentials doesn't necessarily mean they will do a poor job. And she's MUCH more qualified than the previous female fire commissioner. 70% of the FDNY's calls are EMS-related, so is it that bad an idea to have an experienced EMS leader running the system?

Remember, the Commissioner is not running any incidents, not taking command of a major fire, and there is precedent to have a fire commisioner with 0 firefighting experience (see the wiki page for details). And while the Commissioner's radio call sign is FDNY Car 1, Car 3 is the chief of the department, and they are running the day to day operations. The Commissioner handles budgeting, planning, a lot of public relations and political discussions, and serves at the pleasure (and direction) of the mayor. They are simply the department administrator.

Now, are there some insecure men who don't want an openly lesbian person running the department? sure. and do I think it will take NYC decades to recover from the damage that the Mamdami administration will cause? absolutely 100%. But are any of her actions going to cause any serious harm to either FDNY or to EMS in NYC as a whole? not really... but there might be an additional focus on EMS funding, especially since EMS is 70% of the call volume, and gets 20% of the budget.
 
I'm not a firefighter and never have been one, but in general, what's the advantage of a business naming a leader who lacks basic credentials that rank and file must have--e,g,, a fire chief without firefighter academy training and fire suppression experience? Are the optics of a minority member serving in a high-level position without achieving those milestones important enough to minimize such requirements for others? Or am I missing something?
 
She has 31 years experience in EMS, is a Paramedic and CIC, and was the Chief of EMS during the COVID lockdowns. So, she knows what it takes to run EMS and coordinate with the fire supression side of the agency. For a position that is mostly administrative, that is much more experience than several past fire commissioners, some of whom have had zero firefighting experience. I don't know her personally, but some of my old partners who have worked in FDNY EMS do like her and feel she is competent and will support EMS staff.

The media is focusing on her gender rather than capabilities and that is a disservice to Bonsignore as well as the general public. Every person in a palce of authority should be judged on abilities, experience, and how they treat others. I don't care about gender or other items and I hope that Mamdani wasn't choosing her simply because of DEI. I really hope that he chose her due to her proven experience.

The other aspect that I am looking at is how this will affect EMS across the country. Although it is a local decision, placing someone from EMS in charge of the largest EMS agency in the country, instead of a firefighter or a pencil-pusher, may help elevate some of the issues we have seen in EMS to a higher visibility. If she can push for pay parity, it may help improve other agencies that subconciously look up to FDNY.
 
FredG said:
I don't care about gender or other items and I hope that Mamdani wasn't choosing her simply because of DEI. I really hope that he chose her due to her proven experience.
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I hope so too, but that's the crux of the whole issue. I doubt anyone really cares about her gender or sexual orientation at all, but given the current climate of DEI and the new mayor's radically progressive political agenda and the fact that Bonsignore is such a non-traditional candidate for the position, it's difficult to presume that her gender and sexual orientation had nothing to do with her selection.

If she really was chosen because the mayor and his advisors believed she was the best candidate, then it's unfortunately unfair to both she and Mamdani, but they made their own bed in that regard. The political left can't make identity and DEI a central pillar of their philosophy and policies and then be mad when people assume that identity has something to do with their selections for positions like this.
 
To be fair 70% of what FDNY does is EMS so it makes sense to have someone with ems experience run the agency vs someone who knows fire which is only 30% of what the agency does.

Ok getting the popcorn now...
 
Carlos Danger said:
If she really was chosen because the mayor and his advisors believed she was the best candidate, then it's unfortunately unfair to both she and Mamdani, but they made their own bed in that regard. The political left can't make identity and DEI a central pillar of their philosophy and policies and then be mad when people assume that identity has something to do with their selections for positions like this.
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This can't be overstated, and it applies in the opposite direction as well. The political right can't assume that identity was the sole basis for her selection
 
We could also ask why so many feel comfortable with a non-EMT/Paramedic with little to no experience running ambulances are routinely put in charge of one of the largest/busiest EMS Departments in the country... not like she's going Interior taking tactical command of crews while pulling a handline and conducting primary search anymore than previous Commissioners were starting IVs, dropping tubes, interpreting ECGs....
 
mgr22 said:
I'm not a firefighter and never have been one, but in general, what's the advantage of a business naming a leader who lacks basic credentials that rank and file must have--e,g,, a fire chief without firefighter academy training and fire suppression experience? Are the optics of a minority member serving in a high-level position without achieving those milestones important enough to minimize such requirements for others? Or am I missing something?
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At my last EMS agency, we were under the county's "emergency services" department, and the department head was an EMT-I with 20 years of firefighter experience... We were also the largest division in the department...

I would encourage you to check out Wikipedia, as it lists many of the previous FDNY fire commissioners who had 0 firefighter exeprience when they were named as the department head.
 
DrParasite said:
I would encourage you to check out Wikipedia, as it lists many of the previous FDNY fire commissioners who had 0 firefighter exeprience when they were named as the department head.
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Ok, so I'm wondering if that's random within FDNY's history (unlikely), or if there's a business reason for it, or if it's just politics, or something else. When I was in EMS, street experience was a good thing for prospective leaders of street medics. I'm wondering why fire would be different.
 
mgr22 said:
Ok, so I'm wondering if that's random within FDNY's history (unlikely), or if there's a business reason for it, or if it's just politics, or something else. When I was in EMS, street experience was a good thing for prospective leaders of street medics. I'm wondering why fire would be different.
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This appointment is pure politics. Look at all his other appointments.
 
mgr22 said:
Ok, so I'm wondering if that's random within FDNY's history (unlikely), or if there's a business reason for it, or if it's just politics, or something else. When I was in EMS, street experience was a good thing for prospective leaders of street medics. I'm wondering why fire would be different.
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the commissioner role in that environment is entirely administrative, essentially the CEO of multimillion dollar business, same for NYPD - an agency where a huge number of commissioners have absolutely zero law enforcement experience.

A good commissioner has a solid staff of chiefs with operational experience and honestly I don’t think operations are really in the purview of the commissioners anyhow, they just need to make the organization..
 
I think the biggest confusion is that we equate commissioner with chief an it’s not that. Both FDNY and NYPD have respective chiefs who rose though the ranks and have relevant operational experience..
 
FiremanMike said:
I think the biggest confusion is that we equate commissioner with chief an it’s not that. Both FDNY and NYPD have respective chiefs who rose though the ranks and have relevant operational experience..
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The article says she "oversees thousands of uniformed and civilian personnel" so yeah, there's confusion among people like me who interpret "oversees" as relatively close, day-to-day management.

Anyplace I've worked, in EMS or elsewhere, a candidate's lack of relevant line experience would count as a major negative for a position described as hers is.

But I appreciate the explanations.
 
mgr22 said:
The article says she "oversees thousands of uniformed and civilian personnel" so yeah, there's confusion among people like me who interpret "oversees" as relatively close, day-to-day management.

Anyplace I've worked, in EMS or elsewhere, a candidate's lack of relevant line experience would count as a major negative for a position described as hers is.

But I appreciate the explanations.
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Yeah NYC is weird in general. I really only ever dug into it when my wife and I got hooked on Blue Bloods so I did some limited google surfing about their setup.
 
FiremanMike said:
Yeah NYC is weird in general. I really only ever dug into it when my wife and I got hooked on Blue Bloods so I did some limited google surfing about their setup.
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I actually worked in NYC as a medic in the '90s at St. Luke's, one of the voluntaries (hospitals that participated in the 911 system with their own employees). NYC EMS was just getting ready to become part of FDNY. That didn't involve us.

Great place to learn but, as you say, weird.
 
mgr22 said:
I'm not a firefighter and never have been one, but in general, what's the advantage of a business naming a leader who lacks basic credentials that rank and file must have--e,g,, a fire chief without firefighter academy training and fire suppression experience? Are the optics of a minority member serving in a high-level position without achieving those milestones important enough to minimize such requirements for others? Or am I missing something?
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You're missing a lot, which is not unusual for "rank and file" individuals.

C-Suite positions do not require expertise in technical applications. They do require, being influential, seeing the big picture, strategic planning, budgeting/finance and directing senior leaders (that oversee rank and file). They're running a large business, not a singular department.

The optics of this, in my opinion, is little more than a Rorschach test for inherent biases. Some will see a highly qualified appointment, others will see it as unqualified, even if all of the objective data points to the alternative. What I find confusing is the connecting of dots that implies that who someone choses to share their bed with (consenting adults) has some correlation to how they will effectively function in their job. Then again, looking at the history of these municipal services, not terribly surprising.
 
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