FDNY Dep. Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to Temporarily Lead FDNY, as Mayor Chooses Nigro's Replacement

By Yehudit Garmaise

FDNY Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who has held department’s second highest position since October 2017,  announced that she will lead the fire department temporarily, while Mayor Eric Adams chooses a permanent replacement for Commissioner Daniel Nigro, who will retire Wednesday after serving in the department for 52 years.

Nigro appointed Kavanagh, who is credited with leading a campaign to recruit a firefighters who are minorities and women. In addition, Nigro’s second-in-command created a fire-safety program that distributed smoke alarms in neighborhoods that were experiencing many blazes.

Kavanagh, who is 39 and who joined the FDNY nearly eight years ago as an assistant commissioner for external affairs, told FDNY chiefs at a recent meeting that she will lead the department “on an interim basis,” the New York Post reported. She previously served as a former top aide to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, a senior director for de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign, and as a deputy state director for one of former President Barack Obama’s election campaigns.

Although the FDNY’s top lawyer Terry Brown, who is also a woman, is among the likely candidates to lead the FDNY, Kavanagh, who occasionally filled in for Nigro when he was out of town, also may be among the top three contenders for the job.  

Whomever the mayor chooses, if he chooses a woman to lead the FDNY, she will be the first woman to serve as fire commissioner in the NYC’s fire department 151-year history. 

Mayor Adams “is undertaking a thorough review of all candidates for the crucial position of fire commissioner,” said mayoral spokesman Fabien Levy. “He’s already conducted 20 rounds of interviews and narrowed down his list to three individuals.

“As with all other appointments in the administration, Mayor Adams will pick the best person for the job.”