Retiring FDNY commissioner led COVID response, 9/11 recovery

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} New York City’s fire commissioner said Friday that he will retire next month after more than seven years in the job and a career that spanned more than five decades and included stints in every rank in the department. Daniel Nigro led the nation’s largest municipal fire department through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently oversaw its response to the city’s deadliest fire in three decades. Mayor Eric Adams who took office Jan. 1 and was with Nigro at the scene of a Bronx apartment blaze that killed 17 people on Jan. 9, called the retiring commissioner a “tireless champion for New Yorkers, and a friend who I’ve leaned on time and again.” “From overseeing the heroic 9/11 rescue and recovery efforts to leading the FDNY’s unwavering response during the pandemic, Dan has worked tirelessly to protect all New Yorkers,” Adams said in a statement. Nigro’s biggest challenge as commissioner was leading the fire department through the chaotic, early days of the pandemic — the busiest stretch in the history of the city’s EMS operation.