FDNY bypass the best firefighters to meet its diversity goals?

Expect massive lawsuits and blowback by 2050.





If Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro meets goals he announced at a City Council hearing last week, more than half the city’s firefighters will be minority members, and 15 percent female, by 2029. That’s fine — but will they be able to put out fires?

It’s a fair question, because to meet his goals, the FDNY might have to bypass better potential candidates who happen to be white or male. Or perhaps lower its standards.

Nigro laid out his racial and gender targets after Speaker Corey Johnson blasted the FDNY as “out of step with other city agencies . . . when it comes to diversity.”

But Johnson’s charge was both offensive and wrongheaded. For one thing, the FDNY, which requires special skills of firefighters, can’t be compared to other agencies.

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