Posted on 12/26/2025 5:35:08 PM PST by Morgana
Zohran Mamdani's pick to lead the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) has never been a firefighter. Lillian Bonsignore, who has previously served as the EMS chief for the FDNY, will also be the first person to lead the department who is also openly gay.
Bonsignore is a veteran EMS employee of the FDNY but has never served as a firefighter herself.
Bonsignore said that she "knows the job" and "knows what the firefighters need" despite being primarily in the EMS role. She retired in 2022 and will be the second woman to serve as the FDNY commissioner under Mamdani. She is set to assume the role when Mamdani stops into office in January.
"I know the job," she said. "I know the what the firefighters need, and I can translate that to this administration who's willing to listen. I know what EMS needs, I've been EMS for 30 plus years."
"I am honored, so honored, and humbled to stand before you as the new fire commissioner," Bonsignore told reporters on Tuesday. "This appointment represents a significant responsibility, one I accept with humility, dedication, and a deep sense of commitment to the city and its people."
Bonsignore is set to replace Mark Guerra, who was appointed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Guerra will succeed FDNY commissioner Robert Tucker, who resigned the day that Mamdani was elected. However, the time Guerra has had on the job will have been rather short.
“There are some young LGBTQ members that maybe don’t see this as a possibility for them and I want them to know that there’s nothing that can stop them from finding success," Bonsignore said of the appointment. Some have been critical of Bonsignore’s appointment as well as her comment, saying that she was hired only for DEI purposes.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
She is perfect for NY!…..lol
She brings a diverse perspective to the leadership position, then...
Free Candy!
But she worked as a lesbian which is the most important requirement.
Enjoy the suck, NYC (but not from your new lesbian fire chief, who doesn't know what the word even means).
From the way his staff is shaping up, an EMT might be useful. I can see stabbings being a real possibility at meetings. She’ll be Johnny-on-the-spot with her carabiners and Leatherman tool on her belt.
Neither did the person whose job she’s taking.
Firefighters need to walk off the job in protest. How stupid to appoint her with zero experience.
I think I will go to New York and do brain surgery. Doesn’t matter that I have never done surgery. I would probably be very good at it though.
Let the city burn. They wanted this crap.
Are you a lesbian?
Lillian Bonsignore is emblematic of Commie DEI at its rock bottom.
They’ll be purging whites from the dept immediately. Gonna be 350 pound lessbians breaking ladders all over nyc.
Staten Island didn’t. And
that is where most states f the Cops and Firefighters live.
New phone acting glitchy. That is where most of the Cops and Firefighters live.
That lesbian fire chief in LA did a great job during the Pacific Palisades fire.
It’s started,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.