The FDNY’s top female official will be taking over as the department’s acting commissioner while Mayor Adams mulls who to tap as its permanent boss.
First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh announced at a recent FDNY chiefs meeting that she will lead the department on an interim basis when Commissioner Daniel Nigro retires on Wednesday, sources said.
Kavanagh, 39, a former top aide to ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, joined the FDNY nearly eight years ago. She also previously worked as senior director for de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign and as a deputy state director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, according to her LinkedIn page.
Kavanagh, who has occasionally filled in for Nigro when he was out of town, is among the top contenders for the commissioner post along with the FDNY’s top lawyer, Terryl Brown, sources said.
If either Kavanagh or Brown gets the job, they would make history as the first female to lead the FDNY since its inception in 1865.
A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams says he is conducting a thorough search for fire commissioner and has narrowed down the list to three candidates. Bloomberg via Getty ImagesA lack of a permanent leader for the nation’s largest fire department is creating uncertainty at a tumultuous time.
The department is facing the termination of hundreds of firefighters and other emergency personnel who have refused to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Fabien Levy, an Adams spokesman, insisted the mayor “is undertaking a thorough review of all candidates for the crucial position of fire commissioner.”
Kavanagh was appointed to the No. 2 spot at the FDNY in October 2017. ZUMAPRESS.com“He’s already conducted 20 rounds of interviews and narrowed down his list to three individuals,” he added. “As with all other appointments in the administration, Mayor Adams will pick the best person for the job.”
Nigro appointed Kavanagh his second-in-command in October 2017. The city credits her with spearheading a firefighter recruitment campaign to boost the hiring of minorities and women. She also created a fire-safety program that distributed smoke alarms in at-risk neighborhoods
Kavanagh, whose salary is $242,767, joined the FDNY as an assistant commissioner for external affairs.
Her tenure has included some controversy.
Kavanagh currently makes $242,767 as her salary with the FDNY. Paul Martinka for NY PostIn 2018, then-Chief of Department James Leonard was ousted after Kavanagh’s repeated complaints to Nigro that Leonard was verbally abusive and “misogynistic.”
In 2019, she helped an FDNY lieutenant land an unadvertised $219,000-a-year job as deputy commissioner in the Department of Information and Technology, then quickly switch to the FDNY with the same salary.
