New York City Fire Commissioner

The New York City fire commissioner is the civilian administrator of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), and is appointed by the mayor of the City of New York. Prior to 1865, the New York City Fire Department was staffed by volunteers. On March 30, 1865 the New York State legislature passed a law organizing the Metropolitan Fire Department as a paid firefighting force that took control of all the powers and authority of the volunteer department, as well as all the assets such as the fire trucks, equipment, and buildings. The law also created a commission to oversee the department, and for its administration and functioning.^[1] After a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the law was dismissed by the New York Court of Appeals,^[2] it immediately started to operate.^[3][4]

Fire Commissioner of the City of New York
Incumbent Robert S. Tucker since August 12, 2024
Appointer	Mayor of New York
Term length	Not specified Renewable at mayor's pleasure
Formation	1865
Salary	$277,605 (2024)

During the remainder of the 19th century, the number of commissioners was periodically changed by the New York State legislature, until a single commissioner was put in charge of the FDNY when Manhattan and the Bronx consolidated with Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island to form The City of New York on January 1, 1898. Since then, there have been 35 commissioners excluding acting fire commissioners, and 39 commissioners including acting fire commissioners. The current commissioner is Robert Tucker, who was appointed on August 12, 2024.

List of fire commissioners

Pre-consolidated City of New York

During this period, the commissioners elected their own president who ran the commission meetings,^[5] and treasurer, who was the fiscal officer and responsible for reporting the department's finances to the mayor and the Board of Aldermen.^[6]

Date	Commissioners
As a commission of four, nominated by the Governor, by and with the consent of the State Senate[1]
May 3, 1865	Charles C. Pinckney[3][4]		James W. Booth[3][4]			Philip W. Engs[3][4]			Martin B. Brown[3][4]
May 4, 1865	elected president[7]					elected treasurer[7]
August 30, 1865			resigned, position vacant[8]
September 1, 1865			Joshua G. Abbe[9]
March 30, 1867									resigned, position vacant
As a commission of five, nominated by the Governor, by and with the consent of the State Senate[10]
May 1, 1867	Alexander Shaler[11] elected president[11]	Joshua G. Abbe[11] elected treasurer[11]			Theodorus Bailey Myers[11]		James Galway[11]			Monmouth B. Wilson[11]
September 21, 1868		died, position vacant[12]
September 26, 1868							elected treasurer[13]
November 18, 1868		James M. McLean[14]
As a commission of five, nominated by the Mayor, with the consent of the City Aldermen[15]
late April 1870	Alexander Shaler[16]	William Hitchman[16]			James S. Hennessy[16]		James Galway[16]			John J. Blair[16]
April 30, 1870		elected president[17]			elected treasurer[17]
As a commission of three, nominated by the Mayor, with the consent of the City Aldermen[18]
May 16, 1873	Joseph L. Perley[19]			Roswell D. Hatch[19]				Cornelius Van Cott[19]
May 19, 1873	elected president[20]			elected treasurer[20]
May 1, 1875								term ended Vincent C. King[21]
May 1, 1877				term ended[22]
May 3, 1877				John J. Gorman[22]
May 5, 1877				elected treasurer[22]				elected president[22]
May 1, 1879	term ended, position vacant[23]
May 20, 1879	Van Cott (second non-consec. term)[24]
May 1, 1881								term ended, position vacant[25][26]
May 9, 1881	elected president[25][26][27][28]
August 10, 1881	elected treasurer[25][26]			elected president[25][26]
September 14, 1881								Henry D. Purroy[25][26][29]
May 10, 1883	elected president[30]							elected treasurer[30]
November 16, 1883				resigned[31] Richard Croker[31]
May 1, 1885	term ended[32]
May 9, 1885	remaining term taken by Purroy[32] elected president[32]			elected treasurer[32]				resigned to take Van Cott’s remaining term[32] Elward Smith[32]
May 9, 1887				resigned to take Smith's remaining term[33] position vacant[33]				term ended[33] Croker (second term)[33]
May 10, 1888				Fitz John Porter[34]
April 9, 1889								resigned to become City Chamberlain[35] position vacant
May 2, 1889	resigned to take Porter's remaining term[36] Anthony Eickhoff[36] elected treasurer[36]			Purroy (second term)[36]				S. Howland Robbins[36]
May 29, 1891	Eickhoff (reappointed to second term)[37]
January 1, 1893				resigned to become New York County Clerk[38] position vacant
January 10, 1893				John J. Scannell[39]				elected president[39]
May 1, 1893				reapppointed/moved to an empty full term[40] Henry Winthrop Gray[40]				term ended[40] Scannell (full term)[40]
May 2, 1893				elected treasurer[41]				elected president[41]
February 2, 1894				resigned[42][43] replaced by S. Howland Robbins[42][43]
March 5, 1895								resigned/removed[44] replaced by Oscar H. La Grange[44] elected president[44]
March 7, 1895	resigned/removed[45] James R. Sheffield[45]
May 1, 1895				term ended[46] Austin E. Ford[46][47]
June 30, 1896				elected treasurer[48]
September 17, 1896				died, position vacant[49]
September 26, 1896				Thomas Sturgis[49]
September 28, 1896	elected president[50]			elected treasurer[50]
January 1, 1898	replaced by Scannell as a single commissioner (see next table)

City of New York

Number	Name	Dates in Office	Administration	Notes and References	Deputy
1	John J. Scannell	January 1, 1898 – December 31, 1901	Robert Anderson Van Wyck	His salary was $5,000 per year (approximately $175,000 today)[51][52]	James H. Tully[53]
2	Thomas Sturgis	January 1, 1902 – December 31, 1903	Seth Low	Previously served as a pre-consolidation fire commissioner.[49]	Richard H. Laimbeer[54]
3	Nicholas J. Hayes	January 1, 1904 – December 31, 1905	George B. McClellan Jr.	[55][56][57]	William A. Doyle[58]
	John H. O'Brien	January 1, 1906 – October 10, 1906		Resigned before completing his term.[59][60]
5	Francis J. Lantry	October 10, 1906 – February 10, 1908		Resigned before completing his term.[61][62]
6	Hugh Bonner	February 10, 1908 – March 13, 1908		Died before completing his term.[63][64]
	Nicholas J. Hayes	March 13, 1908 – January 3, 1910		This was his second non-consecutive term.[65][66]	Charles C. Wise[67]
7	Rhinelander Waldo	January 3, 1910 – May 23, 1911	William Jay Gaynor	Resigned less than two months after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to become the 8th New York City Police Commissioner. He was also Chief of the Aqueduct Police. Now the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police. [68][69][70]	Arthur J. O'Keeffe[67]
8	Joseph Johnson	May 23, 1911? – June 1, 1911 (acting) June 1, 1911 – December 31, 1913	William Jay Gaynor, Ardolph L. Kline	Acting New York City Fire Commissioner, then promoted to New York City Fire Commissioner.[71][72][73]	Philip J. Farley[74]
9	Robert Edward Adamson	January 1, 1914 – December 31, 1917	John Purroy Mitchel	[75][76]	Richard H. Laimbeer[54]
10	Thomas J. Drennan	January 1, 1918 – April 30, 1926	John Francis Hylan, Jimmy Walker	Resigned before completing his term.[77][78]
11	John J. Dorman	May 5, 1926 – December 31, 1933	Jimmy Walker, Joseph V. McKee, John P. O'Brien	[79][80]
	Francis S. Giacome	January 1, 1934 – January 18, 1934 (acting)	Fiorello H. La Guardia	Acting New York City Fire Commissioner.[81]
12	John J. McElligott	January 18, 1934 – February 23, 1940		Resigned during a corruption scandal before completing his term.[82]
13	Elmer Mustard	February 23, 1940 – February 26, 1940 (acting)		Acting New York City Fire Commissioner during a corruption scandal.[83][84]
	John J. McElligott	February 26, 1940 – May 8, 1941		Second non-consecutive term. Resigned during a corruption scandal before completing his term.[85][86]
14	Patrick Walsh	May 8, 1941 – December 31, 1945		[87][88]
15	Frank J. Quayle Jr.	January 1, 1946 – November 13, 1950	William O'Dwyer, Vincent R. Impellitteri	Resigned before completing his term.[89][90]
	Nathan C. Horwitz	November 13, 1950 – December 27, 1950 (acting)	Vincent R. Impellitteri	Acting New York City Fire Commissioner.[91][92]
16	George P. Monaghan	December 27, 1950 – July 9, 1951		Resigned to become New York City Police Commissioner.[93][94][95]
	Nathan C. Horwitz	July 9, 1951 – August 2, 1951 (acting)		This was his second non-consecutive term as Acting New York City Fire Commissioner.[94][96]
17	Jacob B. Grumet	August 2, 1951 – February 15, 1954		[96][97][98]
18	Edward Francis Cavanagh Jr.	February 15, 1954 – December 31, 1961	Robert F. Wagner Jr.	[99][100]
19	Edward Thompson	January 1, 1962 – August 6, 1964		Resigned before completing his term.[101][102]
20	Martin Scott	August 6, 1964 – December 31, 1965		[103][104]
21	Robert Oliver Lowery	January 1, 1966 – September 29, 1973	John Lindsay	First African-American New York City Fire Commissioner, resigned before completing his term.[105][106]
22	John T. O'Hagan	October 11, 1973 – January 17, 1978	John Lindsay, Abraham Beame	[107][108]
23	Augustus A. Beekman	January 17, 1978 – November 5, 1980	Ed Koch	Second African-American New York City Fire Commissioner, resigned before completing his term because of illness preceding his death.[109][110]
24	Charles J. Hynes	November 5, 1980 – October 22, 1982		Resigned before completing his term.[111]
25	Joseph E. Spinnato	October 22, 1982 – February 17, 1983 (interim) February 17, 1983 – November 16, 1987		Resigned before completing his term.[112][113]
26	Joseph F. Bruno	November 16, 1987 – December 31, 1989		[114]
27	Carlos M. Rivera	January 1, 1990 – August 31, 1993	David Dinkins	Resigned before completing his term.[115]
28	William M. Feehan	August 31, 1993 – November 24, 1993 (acting) November 24, 1993 – December 31, 1993		Acting New York City Fire Commissioner, then promoted to New York City Fire Commissioner. Died in the September 11 attacks.[116]
29	Howard Safir	January 1, 1994 – April 15, 1996	Rudy Giuliani	Resigned to become the 39th New York City Police Commissioner.[117]
30	Thomas Von Essen	April 15, 1996 – December 31, 2001		[118]
31	Nicholas Scoppetta	January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2009	Michael Bloomberg	[119]
32	Salvatore Cassano	January 1, 2010 – June 7, 2014	Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio	Replaced by Bill De Blasio with Daniel A. Nigro [120]
33	Daniel A. Nigro	June 7, 2014 – February 16, 2022	Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams	[121]
34	Laura Kavanagh	February 16, 2022 – October 27, 2022 (interim) October 27, 2022 – August 7, 2024	Eric Adams	[122][123][124]
	Joseph W. Pfeifer	August 7, 2024 – August 12, 2024 (acting)		[125]
35	Robert Tucker	August 12, 2024 – current		[126]