New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has named retired EMS chief Lillian Bonsignore to run the FDNY, and the pick has generated some legitimate skepticism from those who believe that she wasn’t picked for her qualifications. The appointment makes Bonsignore only the second woman to serve as fire commissioner and the first openly gay person to hold the position. But critics zeroed in on a far more consequential fact: she has never served as a firefighter.
While it’s true that Bonsignore spent 31 years with the FDNY, all of it was on the emergency medical services side. She joined as an EMT in 1991 at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and climbed through the ranks, eventually running EMS operations during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2022. She retired in 2022 and will now return to oversee 11,000 firefighters, 4,500 EMTs, and more than 2,000 civilian employees.
“I am honored, so honored, and humbled to stand before you as the new fire commissioner,” she told reporters. “I know the job. I know what the firefighters need, and I can translate that to this administration who’s willing to listen. I know what EMS needs, I’ve been EMS for 30 plus years.”
But even Bonsignore isn’t oblivious to the identity politics at play. She also highlighted the symbolic value of her appointment for the LGBTQ community.
“There are some young LGBTQ members that maybe don’t see this as a possibility for them, and I want them to know that there’s nothing that can stop them from finding success,” she said.
That remark drew swift criticism from those who view the appointment as driven by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) priorities rather than actual firefighting credentials for someone picked to lead one of the world’s largest fire departments.
Mamdani presented Bonsignore’s appointment as a component of his larger plan for public safety. He insists that reducing response times, enhancing hospital coordination, increasing e-bike charging stations to prevent lithium-ion battery fires, and addressing EMT pay parity are among Bonsignore’s top priorities.
“I am dedicated to the fostering of a culture of support, innovation, and continuous improvement within the department,” Bonsignore said. “My goal is to ensure that every member has the resources and environment they need to perform their roles safely and effectively.”
Despite Mamdani’s claim that the appointment of Bonsignore is part of his safety agenda, Elon Musk blasted the appointment.
“People will die because of this,” Musk wrote Friday. “Proven experience matters when lives are at stake.”
He is not wrong, and the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year proved how a city’s obsession with DEI and politics can cripple a Fire Department’s readiness when it matters most.
Instead of making sure the department was adequately staffed, trained, and equipped, LAFD leadership and Mayor Bass’s administration had used their political capital on image, ideology, and diversity box-checking while residents faced “life-threatening” wind and fire conditions.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, the first openly gay and female leader of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), spent her tenure more focused on DEI initiatives than readiness or preparedness. In fact, on her watch, the LAFD spent millions to create a DEI bureau that developed programs to recruit more women and LGBTQ+ firefighters.
The result was an ill-prepared force that could not fully mobilize when the January fires hit, even though internal documents showed the department had the capacity to send hundreds of firefighters and additional engines into high‑risk corridors. In fact, former fire chiefs argued that long‑standing wildfire tactics could have significantly reduced the damage.
Los Angeles offered a cautionary tale to all of us, and New York, under Zohran Mamdani’s leadership, clearly didn’t learn the lesson. When DEI takes precedence over experience and competence, public safety suffers. Los Angeles paid a colossal price to learn that lesson.
The troubling question now is whether New York City is heading down the same path. Hopefully, it won’t take a disaster like the Palisades fire to answer that question.
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