New York has its first out gay Fire Department commissioner and for the second time, a commissioner who is a woman.
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named Lillian Bonsignore commissioner after serving 31 years as an EMT. She was named Chief of the NY Fire Departments EMS division in 2019. She was the first woman to ever head the division and the first uniformed woman to be given four-star chief status. Her tenure saw her responding during the September 11 attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
“Bonsignore’s calm, decisive leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic—when EMS professionals were more vital than ever—is exactly the kind of leadership our city needs in moments of uncertainty,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“Bonsignore is one of the strongest leaders I have ever worked alongside. Nobody knows the Fire Department of New York and what the department means to our city better than Chief Bonsignore. I saw firsthand Chief Bonsignore’s lifelong dedication to the Fire Department New York, including her work on the front lines of COVID and in advocating for a long-overdue EMS pay raise,” her predecessor, Laura Kavanagh, said to the press.
During a press conference, Bonsignore said about taking over the role, “My goal is to ensure that every member of the Fire Department New York has the recourses and environment they need to preform their role safely and effectively. It’s kind of odd that the thing I get celebrated for the most—People are always like, ‘Wow you’re a woman and you’re gay’—are the two things I put the least work into.”
At the time of being sworn in she says, “I promise to be a leader for every member of this department, committed to listening, supporting, and advocating for the great men and women who selflessly give their time to protecting our city.”
Photo courtesy of social media
