Overview
- Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he will appoint former FDNY EMS chief Lillian Bonsignore as fire commissioner when he takes office.
- Bonsignore is a longtime EMT and past leader of FDNY EMS who retired in 2022 and has never served as a firefighter.
- She would be the department’s first openly gay commissioner and only the second woman to hold the job.
- Elon Musk condemned the choice on X, writing “People will die because of this,” while other conservative figures, including Sen. Ted Cruz, also criticized the pick.
- Mamdani defended the selection by highlighting Bonsignore’s leadership of EMS during the COVID-19 surge, calling it the kind of steady decision-making the city needs.