FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh

Facing Mutiny over ‘Breach of Trust’

by S Edelman and R Calder – NY Post – 02.11.23 – UPDATED

Embattled FDNY Chief Laura Kavanagh is facing a mutiny by her top chiefs, with five already demanding demotions and others threatening to follow suit in solidarity.

The 40-year-old rookie commissioner set off a firestorm last week by violating an unofficial, long-standing Fire Department protocol and chain of command, insiders said. 

Kavanagh — who Mayor Eric Adams tapped as the city’s first female fire commissioner in late October, in part to tackle the department’s ongoing struggle to diversify — made the unprecedented move of demoting three officers without consulting her two highest-ranking uniformed officers.

In protest, Chief of Department John Hodgens and Chief of Operations John Esposito immediately asked to return to their civil service titles of deputy chief – both citing a “breach of trust.”

Days later, two other staff chiefs — Frank Leeb and Kevin Woods — also requested demotions in a show of unity, and another, Michael Massucci, followed suit Friday. Insiders say they expect many more to follow.

The commissioner set off a firestorm last week by violating an unofficial, long-standing Fire Department protocol and chain of command, insiders said.

The moves have roiled the department, with the unions representing fire officers and rank-and-file firefighters taking opposing sides. 

The Uniformed Firefighters Association says Kavanagh is doing a good job and has its members’ full allegiance. The Uniformed Fire Officers Association is fuming over what it calls a lack of communication, transparency, and respect coming from Fire Department headquarters in downtown Brooklyn.

Old-guard critics charge Kavanagh’s moves — and the job action they triggered — could put the safety of citizens and firefighters at risk.

Kavanagh made the unprecedented move of demoting three officers without consulting her two highest-ranking uniformed officers.

“It’s easy to put firefighters into a building; it’s knowing when to get them out that saves lives,” Roger Sakowich, a Manhattan borough commander who retired in 2019, told The Post. “By eliminating the seasoned leaders, we are one incident away from a disaster.”

But Kavanagh supporters said the department is simply resistant to change.

Longtime activist and organizer Bertha Lewis said Kavanagh is fielding “disrespectful, unfair” criticism from “good old boy” subordinates turned off by her attempts to “modernize and bring more diversity” to the FDNY.

“Why all the controversy? Because it’s not a man making decisions?” said Lewis, who lobbied hard for Kavanagh to become commissioner last year as a member of Adams’ transition team.

Sources slammed the leak of a recording of the contentious meeting to a New York newspaper on Sunday.

“Secretly recording a meeting with your staff that the commissioner herself called, allegedly under the pretext of talking about respect, team-building and trust,” said the veteran FDNY source who called it “disgraceful.”

“Facts are the commissioner doesn’t know the definition of leadership,” the source charged. “This is not how you change culture, or team building. Trust is earned. You get back what you put out.”

Another veteran FDNY source pushed back at Kavanaugh’s call for top brass to think “outside the box” for how to improve the department.

“We have tons of solutions because we get input from the field,” the source said. “We sent emails up the chain all the time. What we really need is funding. Tons of funding.”

In protest, Chief of Department John Hodgens immediately asked to return to his civil service title of deputy chief.

“She has the right to shake up her staff. She is the commissioner now! Give that girl a chance, and let her do her job the way she wants — and then judge her!” added Lewis, whose advocacy group Black Institute honored Kavanagh at its Juneteenth gala last year.

Both Lewis and Adams are longtime allies who have known each other and worked together for decades, dating back to the mayor’s years as an NYPD cop when he headed a group whose goal was trying to ease relationships between police and communities of color. The relationship continued while he was later a state senator and then Brooklyn borough president.

The FDNY has historically struggled to recruit women and minorities, making modest strides in recent years while paying $42 million so far to a court-ordered diversity monitor. 

More than a decade ago, 91% of the department’s firefighters and fire officers were white males. Today, 9% are black, 15% are Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 74% white, according to the FDNY. Less than 2% of firefighters are women.

Under Kavanagh’s brief reign, she’s named the first black Emergency Medical Services chief, the first black female executive officer, and the first Hispanic chief of staff on the executive team. She’s also credited with helping the City Council pass legislation expected to help improve FDNY’s hiring practices.

UFA President Andrew Ansbro praised Kavanagh for taking steps to diversify the workforce and regularly soliciting the union’s input for ways to improve the department, adding they have a “great working relationship.” He also said the UFA “doesn’t need to take sides” between the commissioner and the officers’ union over a “labor-management issue.”

“The [officers’ union is] upset about lack of notification, but that happens all the time with my members,” he said. “They get moved around all the time and can be sent anywhere.”

But other department insiders say Kavanagh surrounds herself with a few close allies with little or no fire service experience.

Some critics say Kavanagh’s moves could put the safety of citizens and firefighters at risk.

There are some Kavanagh supporters that say the department is simply resistant to change.

They include JonPaul Augier, the civilian deputy commissioner for dispatch and public safety technology she brought on in 2019. He was first hired as a $219,000-a-year deputy commissioner in the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, which never posted the job, then immediately transferred to the FDNY.

Besides Augier, Kavanagh’s tight inner circle includes Capt. Brendan Deehan, executive officer to the acting First Deputy Commissioner Lizette Christoff – a budget and finance exec – and chief of staff, Luis Martinez, an ex-NYPD lieutenant. That Kavanagh relies on an ex-cop irks some of New York’s Bravest, insiders said.

An FDNY spokesman countered that Kavanagh holds regular meetings with all senior leadership, including fire, Emergency Medical Services, and civilian chiefs.

After growing up in Half Moon Bay, a coastal city in northern California, Kavanagh rose to the top of the nation’s largest fire department in part due to left-wing political connections forged years earlier. 

Other department insiders say Kavanagh surrounds herself with a few close allies with little or no fire service experience, including JonPaul Augier (pictured).

From 2006 to 2012, she worked for The Advance Group, one of New York’s top lobbying firms, as its vice president of campaigns and elections. Her long list of clients included Lewis’ controversial and now-defunct community and housing advocacy group ACORN.

In 2012, Kavanagh served as deputy director in Pennsylvania for then-President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign and parlayed her stint there into a job a year later as senior advisor for Bill de Blasio’s successful mayoral campaign. 

Following his election, de Blasio hired Kavanagh as a “special assistant” – a post typically reserved for political operatives – but by mid-2014 she went to the FDNY as its director of external affairs.

Kavanagh quickly moved up the ranks, becoming first deputy commissioner in 2017, and then acting commissioner in February 2022 following then-Commissioner Daniel Nigro’s retirement. Eight months later, she was officially named commissioner overseeing the FDNY’s 17,216 employees and $2 billion budget.

Sources told The Post that Mayor Adams has privately ordered Kavanagh to “fix” the burgeoning FDNY crisis, but in a statement to the newspaper he stood behind his appointee. 

“Commissioner Kavanagh has my full support. She is promoting a culture of true leadership, accountability, and performance within the FDNY,” Adams said. “New Yorkers can rest assured that the FDNY is as prepared as ever to keep them safe and respond to any and all emergencies.”