Laura Kavanagh to be appointed as FDNY’s first female commissioner

Mayor Eric Adams will appoint FDNY Acting Commissioner Laura Kavanagh as the first woman to officially head the department in its 157-year history, according to sources.

Adams will make the announcement at a fire company on Thursday, the sources said.

Kavanagh has been the acting commissioner since February following the retirement of Daniel Nigro.

She has won the support of the rank-and-file during her tenure.

“We congratulate her. She’s a great candidate. She’s a champion who fought for EMS and will continue fighting for us,” said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, the union representing the FDNY’s EMTS, paramedics and fire inspectors.

Kavanagh has been with the FDNY since 2014, serving in several leadership positions.

She oversees the department’s 17,000 employees and $2 billion budget.

Kavanagh had a big hand in the FDNY’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and the Ebola outbreak in 2015.

She directed a recruitment campaign to diversify the FDNY — a sore point for a department where more than three-quarters of firefighters are white men.

Before joining the FDNY, Kavanagh worked in City Hall as a special assistant to former Mayor Bill de Blasio. She also worked on former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.