FDNY boss on mission to
THE FDNY is turning up the heat on hazing with a stricter policy that includes tougher punishments for offenders — and a new level of accountability for firehouse officers.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro is taking the unprecedented step of calling all 900 FDNY officers — including those in the highest ranks — to Randalls Island for a personal sit down with him, the Daily News has learned.
Nigro will address the officers in groups of approximately 80 at a time over 11 sessions, a high-ranking source said.
The commissioner took the unheard of step following the expletive-laden outburst of a deputy chief during an anti-hazing training session at a Brooklyn firehouse last weekend.
The deputy chief’s tirade got him relieved of his command this week.
Nigro decided it was important to make his position forcefully known to “key supervisors” and the entire FDNY leadership, said the source.
“Hazing in unacceptable, its prohibited and it will not be tolerated,” the source said.
But the responsibility doesn’t end with the upper ranks.
“Nigro intends for the message that everyone is responsible to filter down to the rank-and-file. Any firefighter who participates in hazing — or observes it and fails to report it — is in the mix,” the FDNY in-