New York Fire Department will be led by a female Commissioner for the first time

Laura Kavanagh will be New York´s first female Commissioner, according to the New York Times. 

According to the article, "Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday October 27, 2022,  that he will name a woman to lead the New York City Fire Department for the first time in the agency’s 157-year history, according to two City Hall officials with knowledge of the appointment".

News of Ms. Kavanagh’s appointment was first reported by The Daily News on Wednesday evening, that Mr. Adams will officially promote Laura Kavanagh, the acting commissioner of the department, to the post of commissioner.

As commissioner, Ms. Kavanagh, who is 40 years old, will oversee 17,000 employees, including firefighters and emergency medical workers, and units such as 911 dispatch operations. As of August, there were 141 female firefighters, the most in the history of the department.

Ms. Kavanagh was named interim commissioner in February after the previous commissioner, Daniel A. Nigro, retired. She had served as his first deputy and had earlier held several other positions in the department after joining in 2014, according to her profile on LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: (Above) Wikipedia Commons License. Engine 26 of New York City Fire Department, leaving its base at West 37th street.  Own photo, taken on Sept. 12. 2006. Date    12 September 2006 (according to Exif data) Source    Own work Author: Hu Totya