289 join FDNY's Bravest

Before he began his 18-week stint at the FDNY’s probationary firefighter academy, Dylan DiLevo jokingly told his wife that he planned to be the academy class’ valedictorian. 

Halfway through the course, however, DiLevo found he was ranked fourth among the more than 280 recruits in his class: The goal he had set in jest, he thought then, could in fact come to fruition. 

On Friday, DiLevo stood before 288 of his fellow classmates on the stage of the Colden Auditorium at Queens College to address the latest group of probationary firefighters graduating into service, as is custom for the classes' valedictorians. Formerly an FDNY EMT, DiLevo told the FDNY officials, fellow probies and their friends and families gathered Friday morning that he, like many others in his class, still couldn’t believe that he had made it as a firefighter. 

“If you told me two years ago that I would be walking across the stage, graduating as a probationary firefighter, I would have told you that you were crazy,” DiLevo said. “But the world works in mysterious ways.” 

The graduation ceremony, held just days after Christmas, was the second one in 2024 and the first since FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker was appointed in August. The earlier July class of 284 probationary firefighters was former Commissioner Laura Kavanagh’s last. 

In his remarks, Tucker said that the day would always be special to him, just as it's special to the probationary firefighters and their families, because it is the first class of probationary firefighters that he graduated. He told the newest Bravest to continue to read, be curious and ask questions in their firehouses and reminded them that they are “obligated to act with respect and with honor." 

“These first years out of the academy will form the foundation of your time as a New York City firefighter,” Tucker said. “The skills you learn will be with you for the rest of your life." 

According to the FDNY, there are 28 veterans of the U.S military in the 289-member graduating class. About half of the probies are white, 23 percent are Hispanic and 21 percent are Black. Just 2 percent are Asian and 1 percent are Native American. There are also four women. One of them, Victoria Meyers, said that becoming a firefighter gives her pride. 

“You know you have to have a lot more sense of responsibility with the shield on your helmet and know that you’re serving more than just yourself,” she said. Less than 1 percent of the department’s firefighters are women and more than 70 percent are white. 

In his remarks, DeLivo encouraged his fellow graduates to seize the opportunity they'd been given. "As our instructors would always say, we got the winning lottery ticket, a ticket worth blood, sweat and tears,” he said. “And today we finally get to cash it."

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com