New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has chosen a new fire commissioner who has zero experience fighting fires but is a proud lesbian and will be the department’s first openly gay chief.
Lillian Bonsignore, a longtime veteran of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), served for years in the department’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) unit, according to station WABC.
“Although she never served as a firefighter, she’s confident that won’t matter,” the station reported Tuesday.
🚨 NEW: Zohran Mamdani Appoints Lillian Bonsignore as New FDNY Commissioner
“Although she never served as a firefighter, she’s confident that won’t matter … Bonsignore is a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community who will serve as the FDNY’s first openly gay commissioner.” pic.twitter.com/2WlzkollmC
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 26, 2025
“I know the job,” Bonsignore said in a statement. “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’ve been EMS for 30 plus years.”
Mamdani is equally confident in her.
“They deserve a leader who cares about their work because she did it herself, who understands every detail and will fight tirelessly to empower FDNY and make it the best firefighting force in the world,” he said.
But critics say that EMS isn’t the same thing as fighting fires.
“EMS (Emergency Medical Services) calls involve medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, trauma, or illness requiring patient care and transport,” according to Emergent. “Fire calls relate to incidents like structure fires, vehicle fires, rescues, or hazardous materials.”
EMS personnel don’t fight fires.
End of line.
— MICHAEL Murdock 🇺🇸🇮🇹 (@docmurdock) December 27, 2025
Speaking as a licensed medical professional, you are incorrect in this particular matter. Firefighters need to be commanded by other firefighters. Even though EMS and firefighters work together many times, understanding the dynamics of firefighting is not the same as emergency…
— Knott Chu (@KnottChu) December 26, 2025
I’m a female firefighter as well, and I totally agree with your statement. EMS is not trained in incident management specific to fighting fires, assigning divisions (let alone the types of divisions each fire may need), etc.
— Lt_bunny (@RealLt_bunny) December 27, 2025
Elon Musk has predicted that the decision to prop up Bonsignore will ultimately wind up costing lives.
“People will die because of this,” he tweeted Friday. “Proven experience matters when lives are at stake.”
Counter-critics have pushed back by arguing that many former FDNY commissioners lacked direct fire-fighting experience. Some even had zero experience working with the department.
“Eric Adams’ FDNY chief was somebody who donated to his campaign and never served a single day in FDNY,” one counter-critic tweeted.
“The last 2 FDNY Fire Commissioners appointed by Eric Adams had 0 actual FDNY operational experience,” another wrote.
People are acting like FDNY is 90% fires.
It’s not.EMS handles ~70–80% of calls.
Lillian Bonsignore has 30+ years in EMS leadership.FDNY has repeatedly had non-firefighter commissioners.
This is a nothingburger.
— Alice Vaughn (@RationalBlonde) December 26, 2025
One of Bonsignore’s priorities moving forward as commissioner will be to seek “wage parity” or “wage equity” between EMS personnel and actual firefighters.
“Well, I am a big supporter of wage parity,” she said. “I agree EMS should have parity and should have had it for a long time. This is literally a job people cannot live without.”
According to News 12 Networks, Bonsignore was born and raised in the Bronx, and later grew up to provide EMS services during the Sept. 11 terror attack.
“Bonsignore is a veteran of the department with more than 30 years of experience and previously served as the chief of emergency medical services before retiring in 2022,” the news network noted. ” Bonsignore is coming out of retirement to serve the city and will be the first uniformed woman to lead the department.”
Critics fear that Mamdani’s focus on playing identity politics versus picking the best candidate for the job will backfire just like it did in California, where the state’s DEI hires dropped the ball during the handling of the Palisades Fire.
The DEI hires at the top did a great job in California this year. They left their firefighters undermanned and without the absolute basics, like water, for example. Being more concerned with stuffing totally inexperienced lesbians into a job that can cost lives is criminally… https://t.co/hbVmAyQPkL
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 27, 2025
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.