Chief Leader – January 06, 2015
by SARAH DORSEY
The new class of probationary Firefighters entering the Fire Academy includes two sons of 9/11 victims, including one who, in 2013, successfully fought for legacy points that were denied him. The class is 44-percent black, Latino or Asian, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Mayor de Blasio announced Dec. 29.
The 323 “probies” sworn in that morning at the training facility on Randall’s Island known as “the Rock” also included three women. If they all graduated in 18 weeks, the firefighting force would have a record-high 47 women, which still represents less than one-half of one percent of its members.
Ethnic Breakdown
Roughly 24 percent of the candidates are Latino, 17 percent are black and 4 percent are Asian. More than 50 previously served in the military.
Michael Sullivan’s father, Firefighter John Sullivan, died of pancreatic cancer in 2010 after performing rescue and recovery work at the World Trade Center after Sept. 11. His name is inscribed on the wall of FDNY Headquarters in Brooklyn with other 9/11 victims.
But a loophole in the Legacy Law previously gave only those whose parent died on Sept. 11 the 10 extra points on their fire and police entrance exams, leaving out those like Mr. Sullivan who watched a father die of a lingering illness from breathing the toxic air.
Thirteen people excluded by the loophole, including Mr. Sullivan, lobbied the State Legislature to pass an amendment, which Governor Cuomo signed in January 2014.
Another 9/11 Victim’s Son
Probie Christopher Galfano’s father also fought Sept. 11-related brain, lung, and liver cancer before succumbing in 2011. An NYPD Captain, Barry Galfano spent nine months at the Trade Center with the Emergency Services Unit.
“That spirit of continuing to serve no matter what lives on in these two young men, and it’s also a reminder that that tragic day cannot be forgotten,” Mayor de Blasio said at the Monday morning ceremony.
He praised current firefighters for answering 1.6 million calls in 2014 and keeping fire deaths down to just 69, among the lowest number in New York history.
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