Lawmakers hold town hall to address diversity within FDNY

Members of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus gathered on Thursday to hold a town hall to discuss concerns of diversity within the FDNY.

“We’ve met internally with the different societies — the Vulcan Society, the Phoenix Society. But as a caucus, we really wanted to open this conversation up to the general public,” Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams, chair of the Civil and Human Rights Committee, said.

“We still have a huge workforce that reflects really poor numbers,” Williams continued.

According to the FDNY, 2.5% of firefighters are Asian; 10% are Black; and 16.5% identify as Hispanic. Also, only 1.6% of firefighters are female.

“The recent class, we saw an increase of like 50% of the people in the class were Black, Latino, Asian, minorities, which is a step forward,” Williams said.

But Regina Wilson, the president of the Vulcan Society, said changing the culture of the FDNY also means better treatment of minority workers.

“The needle hasn’t moved at all,” Wilson said.

The fraternal society of Black firefighters has sued the FDNY multiple times, including a 2007 lawsuit accusing the fire department of discriminatory hiring practices, resulting in a $98 million settlement.

“We’re still dealing with workplace violence. We’re still dealing with racist flags being flown in the firehouses on the fire trucks. We’re still dealing with people being called the N-word,” Wilson said.

In Fiscal Year 2023, there were 59 Equal Opportunity Employment complaints against the FDNY. These are job discrimination complaints.

“This is a recruitment year, and we want to make sure the councilmembers and the fire department are changing within before we bring more people in,” Wilson said.

In May, the FDNY announced the “All Heroes Welcome” recruitment campaign, which is aimed at increasing diversity. In 2022, the city also passed several bills aimed at improving diversity within the ranks of the FDNY.

“Challenges will come, and it’s just about pushing the needle,” Williams said.

NY1 asked the city and the FDNY to comment. Meanwhile, the open exam filing period runs until Aug. 9.