New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed former chief of emergency medical services Lillian Bonsignore to serve in his incoming administration as commissioner of the New York City Fire Department.
She will be the second woman and the first openly gay Fire Commissioner in New York City’s history.
During a news conference on Tuesday, announcing the appointment, Mamdani described Bonsignore as “a leader who cares about their work because she did it herself.”
However, Bonsignore has never served as a firefighter. After more than 30 years as an emergency medical technician (EMT), Bonsignore retired from the FDNY as Chief of EMS operations in 2022.
“I know the job. I know the— what the firefighters need, and I can translate that to this administration, who’s willing to listen,” Bonsignor said.
“I know what EMS needs. I have been EMS for 30 plus years.”
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In her new role, Bonsignore will oversee approximately 11,000 firefighters, 4,500 EMTs, and more than 2,000 civilian employees, according to CBS.
The role is currently held by Mark Guerra, a career FDNY firefighter, who took over after former Commissioner Robert S. Tucker resigned, citing Mamdani’s stance on Israel.
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In 2019, she made history when she was appointed as the chief of EMS operations for the FDNY, becoming the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ individual to hold the title in the department.
Bonsignore says her top priorities include improving response time, public education, prevention and pay equity.
“This is literally a job that people cannot live without. We have to make sure we are taking care of our EMS system,” said Bonsignore.
Mayor-elect Mamdani said he also will be retaining the Department of Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan and NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol as interim commissioners to maintain stability in the departments during the snow season.
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