Businessman and philanthropist Robert Tucker on Monday is expected to be named the Fire Department of New York’s new commissioner, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the appointment.
Tucker, 51, is the CEO of a private security company and a longstanding member of the board of directors of the FDNY Foundation, the official not-for-profit organization of the FDNY.
He is replacing outgoing Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh — appointed in 2022 as the first woman to serve as commissioner since the department’s creation in 1865.
The announcement of the new FDNY leader is expected to take place Monday at 11 a.m. at the fire academy on Randalls Island.
Jeff Bachner/New York Daily News
Mayor Eric Adams (l) and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh at the World Trade Center Memorial Wall Dedication Ceremony at FDNY Headquarters in MetroTech Center, Wednesday, Sep. 6, 2023. (Jeff Bachner/New York Daily News)
Although multiple sources within the FDNY, City Hall and a former city official told the Daily News that Tucker was widely expected to be tapped as commissioner, the mayor’s office was equivocal when asked for comment Sunday night.
“As we always say, no appointment is made until it is announced,” spokesperson for Mayor Adams Fabien Levy told the News.
An FDNY spokesperson directed all inquiries to City Hall.
Tucker is currently the CEO of T&M protection resources, a private firm that offers security, intelligence and protection resources, according to the company’s website. Although he has never been a firefighter, Tucker is a self proclaimed “fire buff” whose ties to FDNY run deep.
“I used to chase fire engines on my bicycle” as a youngster growing up in Manhattan, Tucker said in his FDNY Foundation biography.
After meeting former Fire Commissioner Joseph Spinnato, Tucker got his first job as a teenager working in the FDNY communications office in Manhattan, at the time located in Central Park.
After college, Tucker attended law school at Pace University School of Law. Before joining T&M in 1999, he worked as special counsel to the Queens County District Attorney.
Tucker became involved in fundraising for the FDNY after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I wanted to be more involved, to try to leverage my contacts and my love of the Department with something meaningful. I figured the best way to do that was to become a part of the Foundation’s Board of Directors,” Tucker said in his FDNY Foundation biography.
In 2014, he was named an Honorary Fire Commissioner for his work at FDNY Foundation, which previously named him an honorary assistant chief in 2010 and an honorary deputy chief. He formerly served on Mayor Adams’ Public Safety and Justice transition committee.
Tucker was first considered for the job in 2022, but the position ultimately went to Kavanagh, who finished her term on Wednesday. Kavanagh’s resignation comes as she and the city are facing a lawsuit from multiple senior officials who claim to have been the victim of age discrimination.
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