Mayor Eric Adams will appoint FDNY Acting Commissioner Laura Kavanagh𒐪 as the first woman tꦕo officially head the department in its 157-year history, according to sources.
Adams will make the announcement at a fire companyꦐ on Thu❀rsday, the sources said.
Kavanagh has been the acting commissioner since February following the retiremen🙈t of Daniel Nigro.
She has won the sup𝔍port o𒈔f the rank-and-file during her tenure.
“We congratulate her. She’s a great candidate. She’s a champion who fought for EMS and will continue fighting for us,” said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, the union representing the FDNY’s EMTS, paramedics and fire inspectors.
Kavanagh 🐭ha꧒s been with the FDNY since 2014, serving in several leadership positions.
She oversees the department’s 17,000 employees and $2 billion budget.
Kavanagh had a big hand in the FDNY’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and the Ebola outbreak in 2015.
She directed a recruitment campaign to diversify the FDNY — a sore point for a department where more than three-quarters of firefighters are white men.
Before joining the FDNY, Kavanagh worked in City Hall as a special assistant to former Mayor Bill de Blasio. She also worked on former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.