New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will announce Tuesday that former emergency medical services chief Lillian Bonsignore will lead the New York City Fire Department as commissioner. Bonsignore will be the second woman to lead FDNY, and the first uniformed woman to lead the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bonsignore, a longtime EMT, became the first woman to lead the department\u2019s EMS bureau in 2019. She led EMS through the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the department saw record demand<\/a> as the virus swept through the city. Mamdani emphasized that experience in a statement on Tuesday shared with City & State in advance of a public announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cBonsignore\u2019s calm, decisive leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 when EMS professionals were more vital than ever \u2013 is exactly the kind of leadership our city needs in moments of uncertainty,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Her appointment will be seen as a commitment to raising the pay of EMT\u2019s, who have long lobbied for pay parity with other first responders. Bonsignore is coming out of retirement<\/a> to join Mamdani\u2019s administration after stepping down in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Born and raised in the Bronx, Bonsignore was a single mom when she first became an EMT in 1991. She responded to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, deployed from Fort Totten in Queens to the World Trade Center. (Mamdani planned to announce her appointment from Fort Totten Tuesday.) She steadily gained authority and status within the EMS division over her decadeslong career, becoming a lieutenant in 2002, captain in 2005, and deputy chief by 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n She later took over EMS training as deputy assistant chief, a role in which she oversaw the certification of more than 13,000 EMTs, the Mamdani transition said.<\/p>\n The relationship between EMS and FDNY has been strained as EMS sees an exodus of first responders attributed to their relatively low salaries.<\/a> EMS workers are paid significantly less than police and firefighters, and their starting salaries are lower than in many other cities. While all parties agree the EMS workers are underpaid, the Fire Department and the EMTs union have struggled to come to agreement. \u201cIf it stays on this path, FDNY EMS faces a future of worsening staffing shortages and slowing response times,\u201d outgoing Commissioner Robert Tucker wrote<\/a> in a recent New York Post op-ed.<\/p>\n