Musk and other critics attacked Mamdani’s selection of EMS veteran Lillian Bonsignore to lead the department, reigniting debate over what operational experience matters most for the commissioner role

By Lincoln Anderson and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Elon Musk threw cold water on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick of Lillian Bonsignore as the city’s FDNY commissioner, warning it would have dire consequences because she lacks firefighting experience.

“People will die because of this. Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” the Space X and Tesla owner said early Friday evening in a post on X, which he also owns.

| POLL: What experience should a fire commissioner have?

Bonsignore will be the first LGBTQ head of the FDNY in its 160-year history, a fact conservative critics who piled on against her on Friday find especially galling.

“I know if I’m burning to death in a building I’ll at least be happy knowing that while the FDNY commissioner never ever served as a firefighter, she’s a lesbian,” Brianna Lyman, an elections correspondent at The Federalist, scoffed on X.

Joining in on the attack, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sarcastically quipped of Bonsignore’s appointment, “A great idea! unless there’s a fire. …”

Bonsignore served in the FDNY EMS for more than three decades, rising to chief of the EMS division, holding the top post for three years before retiring in 2022. Her tenure as EMS chief overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that saw the department’s EMTs and paramedics under tremendous strain.

Like her, the city’s past two Fire Department commissioners also were never firefighters. Outgoing Commissioner Robert Tucker previously worked in global security and cyberintelligence. His predecessor, Laura Kavanagh, organized political campaigns before joining the FDNY, where she held various senior roles, though never as a firefighter, before Mayor Eric Adams tapped her to be the Bravest’s first female commissioner.

Meanwhile, Saturday evening, Mamdani went back at Musk, posting, “Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS. You know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?”

Others also had the back of Bronx native Bonsignore, including Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.

“Lillian Bonsignore is a 31-year veteran of the FDNY. The far right never lets facts get in the way of their narrative,” Torres retorted.

“If you think that a Fox & Friends weekend host is qualified to be the Secretary of Defense but don’t think that a 9/11 first responder, with 31 years of experience, with the FDNY, should not be the Commissioner, then you just may be dumb as s–t,” fumed X poster Turnbull, who frequently skewers conservatives and their policies.

John Macari Jr., a retired New York Police Department lieutenant-turned-podcaster, also lashed back at Musk and the right-wingers, posting, “The last 2 FDNY Fire Commissioners appointed by Eric Adams had 0 actual FDNY operational experience. Eric Adams current NYPD Police Commissioner also has 0 Law Enforcement experience. Lillian Bonsignore has 30 years of FDNY EMS experience. The overwhelming majority of calls handled by firefighters are EMS runs.”

The nasty criticism, however, is unlikely to rattle the long-time FDNY EMS pro.

“I know the job,” Bonsignore said confidently on Tuesday when Mamdani announced her appointment. “I know what the firefighters need and I can translate that to this administration, who’s willing to listen. I know what EMS needs, I have been EMS for 30-plus years.”

Should the FDNY commissioner be required to have firefighting experience, or does decades of EMS leadership, covering the majority of FDNY calls, provide the operational background needed to lead the department?

Vote now: Should a commissioner be a firefighter, an EMS leader, an executive — or a mix?

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