FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh pushed out after fiery controversies, including texts trashing firefighters: sources
Fire 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 knowledge of the situation told The Post Monday.
The FDNY’s first woman fire boss’s tenure finally went up in smoke after The Post’s recent exclusive report that she texted Attorney General Letitia James an apology for failing to “fix” sexist men in the department’s workforce, sources said.
Sources said Kavanagh — who came under fire several times during her nearly two years at the helm of the department — resigned after being told that officials were lining up another potential job for her within Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Kavanagh likely will remain in the role for longer, as sources said it’s expected that it’ll take Adams weeks or months to pick a replacement. It’s unclear whether the mayor plans to name an interim commissioner in the meantime.
FDNY sources said that while Adams would like Kavanagh to stay in the administration, she appears to be eyeing a job outside City Hall, or could possibly leave city government.
Kavanagh didn’t immediately return a message on Monday. City Hall and FDNY officials sidestepped requests for comment on the reputed ouster, referring The Post to an Adams statement indicating “she could have kept this position for as long as she wanted.”
“What she does next is a question for the commissioner,” said Fabien Levy, deputy mayor for communications. “Like the mayor’s statement makes clear, she is a trusted member of the administration.”
Sources told The Post that at least two potential successors, both men, are being considered: Robert S. Tucker, a security firm CEO who was a top contender for the job before Kavanagh’s appointment in 2022, and the FDNY’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, Kwame Cooper.
The first job for whoever takes over the FDNY likely will be to quell the burning resentments among older smoke eaters who believe Kavanagh dangerously sought to replace seasoned chiefs with younger, inexperienced staff.
A group of older FDNY leaders detailed those accusations in a scathing age discrimination lawsuit against Kavanagh, contending she and her deputies sought to demote, reassign or otherwise sideline older high-ranking firefighters.
The suit — which is ongoing — factored into Kavanagh’s departure, a source told The Post.
Jim Walden, an attorney for the chiefs suing Kavanagh, said they were grateful for her pending departure.
“It is no surprise,” he said.
“Kavanagh disrespected and victimized some of the most decorated heroes serving the FDNY. The city can now settle the claims in our lawsuit, or subject Kavanagh to a bruising deposition: Either way our clients will get justice.”
Though regarded as trail-blazing, Kavanagh has largely been in the hot seat since taking over the FDNY in 2022 from former fire boss Daniel Nigro.
Beyond her bombshell age discrimination lawsuit, the embattled soon-to-be-former commish has faced a slew of additional controversies 一 including rising FDNY emergency response times, accusations of prohibiting political expression, breaches of trust and calls for termination.
Kavanagh most recently faced jeers from a crowd at the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade after publicly apologizing for Donald Trump-supporting attendees’ boos at AG James during an FDNY promotional ceremony.
Kavanagh also privately apologized to James, saying she wanted to “fix” the behavior of the FDNY’s predominately male workforce but ultimately couldn’t.
“I am sorry that we didn’t stop them,” Kavanagh wrote James, according to text messages obtained by The Post.
Unhappiness over the texts within the Adams administration prompted Kavanagh to sit down with Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks last week, insiders said.
Another face-to-face between Kavanagh and Banks was abruptly canceled.
But it appears the long-under-fire Kavanagh’s time had run out.
Joann Ariola, a Queens Republican who chairs the City Council’s fire committee, tweeted that she was glad the mayor “took the action of removing her.”
“If there was one thing that needed to be fixed in the @FDNY, it was her, and I am glad that the administration has come to this decision before she was able to do any more damage to the men and women of New York’s Bravest,” Ariola wrote.
Additional reporting by Zoe Hussain and Susan Edelman
