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Mamdani Names Lillian Bonsignore FDNY Commissioner as Adams Swears In Guerra for Final Week

The appointment signals a turn toward EMS experience, hinting at a focus on pay parity, retention, continuity.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh visits the Empire State Building with the FDNY in honor of EMS Week on May 13, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.)
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Current FDNY EMS Chief Lillian Bonsignore, left, and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)

Overview

  • Bonsignore, a 31-year FDNY EMS veteran who led the bureau through the COVID-19 surge, will assume command after Zohran Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration.
  • She becomes the department’s second woman leader, the first uniformed woman to head FDNY, and the first openly gay commissioner.
  • Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams swore in First Deputy Commissioner Mark Guerra to lead FDNY through Dec. 31 during the transition.
  • The choice is widely interpreted as a push to address long-standing EMS pay gaps and staffing challenges, with reporting citing EMT starting pay around $36,000 versus more than $54,000 for firefighters.
  • Mamdani will also keep Javier Lojan at Sanitation and Zachary Iscol at Emergency Management on an interim basis to preserve winter operations continuity.