Council passes legislation in effort to diversify FDNY

The City Council passed a package of five bills Thursday aimed at diversifying the FDNY and ensuring that the department has the infrastructure and protections in place to attract and retain women and persons of color. Passage came just a week after Mayor Eric Adams named Laura Kavanagh the department’s first female commissioner. 

The FDNY has long had trouble diversifying its ranks: 76 percent of its uniformed firefighters are white men. While it has made progress on that front, 40 years after women were first sworn in to its uniformed ranks, just 1 over percent of firefighters are female, far below the national figure of 5 percent. 

One of the bills, sponsored by speaker Adrienne Adams, mandates that the FDNY work with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to implement a plan to recruit and retain firefighters from underrepresented communities and to update those efforts yearly on the FDNY website.  

Another bill, sponsored by Council Member Kevin Riley, compels the FDNY to report annually on the number of employees, categorized by race, gender, and ethnicity, assigned to each fire company and special operations unit. Riley also sponsored legislation mandating diversity, equity and inclusion training in firehouses. His bill also requires that targeted trainings are implemented at firehouses where members violated the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy or Human Rights Law, or the department’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies. 

Regina Wilson, a former president of the Vulcan Society, the fraternal organization of black FDNY firefighters, said that she had been working on these bills more than three years, and while she was thrilled about the legislation’s passage, she found it “unfortunate” that it took this long to make fundamental changes.” 

“This is the first step for accountability in the Fire Department,” Wilson told The Chief. “I hope it will open the door to more opportunities for people of color and women to join the Department.” 

‘Committed to advancing solutions’ 

Following the vote on the legislative package, Adams expressed gratitude to the advocates and organizations that have long pushed for “equitable representation and treatment” within the department.

“The overall lack of diversity within the FDNY is a longstanding problem we must address,” the speaker said in a statement. “As a Council, we are committed to advancing solutions that help correct this historic injustice. By passing this package of bills today, we hope to move the FDNY forward to achieving a workforce fully reflective of rich diversity of our city.”

Among the other associated legislation passed by the Council is a bill sponsored by Joann Ariola, the chair of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, requiring the FDNY to survey every firehouse and determine what upgrades will need to be made, such as installing women's bathrooms, and report the outcome of the survey to the Council. 

The final bill, sponsored by Council Member Nantasha Williams, requires the FDNY to submit a report on complaints filed with the department’s troubled Equal Employment and Opportunity Office, including the number of complaints, the type of complaints, any corrective actions the FDNY took and the amount of time taken between the filing and resolution of a complaint.  

Minority firefighters have criticized the FDNY’s EEO office for failing to address harassment or abuse complaints by firefighters and for not holding offenders accountable. “After receiving a number of complaints regarding diversity and discrimination in the FDNY, I was proud to sponsor this bill,”  Williams said in a statement. Her bill, she said in the statement, “would hold the Fire Department accountable with the goal to remedy the complaints filed against them.” 

Council members held a press conference before the passage of the bill where Council Member Crystal Hudson said that “These bills are a great first step but a lot of work remains. Especially to end discriminatory practices and improve the process by which black, brown, queer and female firefighters can file and pursue claims of harassment and discrimination.” 

Wilson, despite lauding the bills’ passage, said that more has to be done in the future to ensure that change will take hold. “Within the fire department there has to be a bigger accountability piece,” she said. “The only way you’re going to change the department is by holding those who are offenders accountable.” She said she is “hoping to work with the Council to do a lot more to get this department on the right track." 

All five of the bills passed the council with unanimous support. 

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com