The CEO of a major New York-based security firm is expected to be named the next fire commissioner of New York City, replacing Laura Kavanagh, who garnered the ire of her rank-and-file firefighters after a group heckled the state’s attorney general, according to local reports.
Kavanagh, the department’s first female commissioner, announced last month that she would be stepping down.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to name Robert Tucker, the CEO of T&M USA, as her replacement Monday, according to reports in the city’s three major newspapers.
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Neither the FDNY nor Tucker’s firm immediately responded to requests for comment.
Adams was scheduled to hold a news briefing at the city’s firefighter academy at 11 a.m., according to the Daily News.
Kavanagh kicked up a controversy in March after Attorney General Letitia James, whose office sued former President Trump for $350 million, received jeers and boos during a promotion ceremony before members of the audience started chanting the GOP candidate’s name.
While department leaders circulated a memo warning brass would “figure out” who the hecklers were, the FDNY backtracked a few days later, denying there had ever been an investigation into those who booed James.
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FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens handed down a fiery list of talking points, the New York Post reported at the time, calling the behavior “unacceptable” and saying an investigation would examine video of the event.
“BITS is investigating this, so they will figure out who the members are,” Hodgens warned in an email to high-ranking FDNY officials. “I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the Commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward, and we don’t have to hunt them down.”
BITS refers to the department’s Bureau of Investigation and Trials.
James herself said she opposed disciplining anyone involved in the interruption, she told Politico’s Playbook in March.
“The events of last Thursday will not diminish my respect for the brave men and women of FDNY,” she told the outlet days after the incident. “I will be with them now, and I will be with them tomorrow.”
However, the firefighters were still fired up on St. Patrick’s Day, when they booed Kavanagh herself during the city’s annual parade.
In addition to the spat with hecklers, her tenure was also marked by tension with department members from the bottom up. Last year, a group of demoted officials slapped her with an age discrimination lawsuit.
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FDNY chaplain Pamela Holmes, who was honored at the ceremony and is friends with the attorney general, had invited her to speak at the event.
Like Kavanagh, her expected replacement never served as a firefighter. However, he is an expert on security, especially in the city’s high-rise buildings, and sits on the board of the FDNY Foundation, a nonprofit designed to support the department with public safety campaigns and equipment. He also has a lengthy background in law enforcement.
Tucker has already been named an honorary fire commissioner and police commissioner in the Big Apple. He took the helm of T&M back in 1999, according to his company bio.
Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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