The New York City Fire Commissioner at the time of 9/11 has slammed the department’s “old friends club” and City Hall for helping to “fail” Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.
“The devil is in the details,” former Fire Chief Tom Von Essen told The Washington Post, referring to the recently announced resignation of the department’s first female chief, who has come under fire.
“The old boys’ club of FDNY chiefs of staff is sure to go after Kavanaugh,” he said. “She handled it poorly, but she was right in trying to get more of the younger talented lieutenants captains and battalion chiefs to come to headquarters with loftier goals than padding compensation time and pensions.” [Kavanaugh”hesaid“Shehandleditpoorlybutwasontargetwithtryingtogetmoreoftheyoungertalentedlieutenantscaptainsandbattalionchiefstocometoheadquarterswithloftiergoalsthanpaddingcomptimeandpensions”
Von Essen, 79, is an FDNY insider who worked alongside agency employees and FDNY frontline emergency responders during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when he served as Federal Emergency Management Agency’s New York and New Jersey regional director.
He said Mayor Eric Adams’ administration also could have done a better job supporting Kavanagh as he leads the nation’s largest fire department.
“When Chief Kavanagh was appointed, he appointed a chief of staff from the NYPD. Who’s idea was that?” von Essen said, referring to Luis Martinez.
“Well, that was the deputy chief of the NYPD, I think he was a good manager, but he was ignorant,” he said, referring to Adams’ public safety deputy, Phil Banks, who put Martinez in the role.
Kavanagh’s resignation was announced a week ago after a series of controversies that left some members of Adams’ administration questioning her ability to lead the city’s fire department, even though Adams has publicly stood by his position as fire chief.
The challenges he faces include increasing FDNY emergency response times, a surge in lithium-ion battery fires across the city, growing criticism from subordinates, and an age discrimination lawsuit filed by department executives he demoted.
An infuriated Kavanagh also mercilessly booed state Attorney General Letitia James at her promotion ceremony in March and ordered his superiors to go after the smoke-eaters who cheered in support of Donald Trump.
Von Essen acknowledged that the booing and heckling at the ceremony was “inappropriate behaviour” and called the age discrimination lawsuit “nonsense”.
He also praised rank-and-file firefighters and paramedics for doing a “very good job” that masks the “poor management” of the New York Fire Department.
Von Essen, who oversaw the Pentagon when terrorists launched the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, said the Pentagon’s civil service culture was an obstacle and a long-term problem.
“The FDNY needs to implement dozens of management improvements that would never get done with traditional civil service thinking,” he said.
He advised:
- FDNY/EMS and hospital leadership developed a plan to drastically reduce “unacceptable” response times, primarily caused by paramedics “spending excessive amounts of time” in hospital emergency rooms.
- Encourage more veterans to become firefighters to increase racial and ethnic diversity. “They’ve been vetted, they’ve got experience, they’re diverse,” he said.
- The next fire chief should be a business executive or a veteran leader. “The FDNY needs a strong administrator who understands safety, efficiency, politics, accountability and leadership,” von Essen said.
When asked for comment, the New York City Fire Department and the Mayor’s Office told The Post: Statement Cabana produced it for PIX 11 on Sunday.
Kavanagh said she hopes to set an example as the New York City Fire Department’s first female chief.
“I knew how hard it would be… I knew it was going to be a lot harder. There would be parts that were messy and uncomfortable,” she said.
But it was worth it, she said, adding that it’s unfair to smear the FDNY when many organizations struggle to have their “first” female leader.
She said the next commissioner needs to be someone who is “really rigorous” and also self-reflective.
Kavanagh said one of his most infuriating moments was witnessing FDNY officers boo and heckle James at a promotion ceremony he attended.
“This is the angriest thing I’ve ever been in this position. This is the most upsetting thing I’ve ever been in this position,” the commissioner said.
“I couldn’t stop it that day. I had to sit on stage. It was embarrassing. I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t stop it that day.”
She also called the discrimination lawsuit filed against her and the police “absurd.”
