Mayor de Blasio Appoints Daniel A. Nigro as Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department

Mayor de Blasio Appoints Daniel A. Nigro as Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department

32-year FDNY veteran and former chief of department to lead New York's Bravest

Administration pledges commitment to firefighter safety, department diversity, and swift response times across the five boroughs

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced his appointment of Daniel Nigro to serve as New York City's fire commissioner. A 32-year veteran of the FDNY and former chief of department, Nigro brings decades of operational and administrative experience to the department. Mayor de Blasio charged Nigro with ensuring the safety of New York City's residents and firefighters, increasing diversity among the ranks, and maintaining the department's commitment to swift FDNY response times in neighborhoods across the city.

A well-respected leader who has held every uniformed rank in the FDNY, Nigro returns to the department with years of first-hand knowledge, deep operational familiarity, and extensive leadership experience from his time with the FDNY. Appointed chief of department on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, Nigro led the FDNY through search, rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero, and provided operational leadership for FDNY and EMS response units and personnel. Nigro was also instrumental in merging the cultures and operations of FDNY and EMS into an exemplary medical response and care program, which resulted in a substantial increase in the diversity of department staff.

About Daniel A. Nigro

Raised in Bayside, Queens, where his father was a FDNY captain, Daniel A. Nigro has spent his life serving New York City's fire department. Nigro began his career as a firefighter in 1969, and served as a lieutenant, captain and battalion chief in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, before his promotion to assistant to deputy fire commissioner in 1988. Nigro has held positions as chief of uniformed personnel, chief of health services, battalion and deputy chief, deputy assistant chief of operations, chief of emergency medical service, and citywide tour commander, among others, during his years with the FDNY.

In 1999, Nigro was appointed chief of operations, where he maintained preparedness, staffing and availability of units for fire and emergency response, and instituted a program similar to CompStat to measure and oversee key areas of accountability. On September 11, 2001, Nigro was appointed chief of department upon the death of Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr. in the collapse of the WTC North Tower. As the highest ranking uniformed member of the department and its chief operations officer, Nigro was instrumental in guiding the department through its loss after September 11, and assisted in providing plans to move the department toward better training and equipment to respond to all levels of emergency.

Nigro is a member of Friends of Firefighters, September 11th Families Association, Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance, and Columbia Association, among others. Most recently, he has provided consultation to fire departments on fire department management.

Nigro holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch College. He currently lives in Whitestone, Queens, with his wife Lynn. The couple has two daughters and three grandchildren.

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