This year’s FDNY firefighter exam drew less than half the number who took 2017 exam

Fewer than 22,000 people took the open competitive exam to become an FDNY firefighter this year despite the department sinking $3 million into a recruitment campaign, pushing back the registration timeline and adding more testing dates, according to figures provided by the department. 

The 21,760 people who took the exam this year were less than half of the 46,305 who sat for the 2017 test — the last time an open competitive exam was offered. More than 42,161 took the exam in 2012. 

Of test takers this year, 6.5 percent were women, a record high. Just under 38 percent of those who took the exam listed their race as white, 27 percent listed Hispanic, over 21 percent selected Black, just under 4 percent chose Asian and nearly 10 percent selected “other.” 

The percentage of racial minorities that took this year's exam including the “other” category is just under 62 percent. That’s higher than the 56 percent of those who identified as people of color who took the 2017 exam, when under 1 percent of test takers were women, according to the FDNY.

Amanda Farinacci, an FDNY spokesperson, said that the department is “pleased” with the figures for this year's exam. “21,000+ test takers still provides us more candidates than we need to fill our firefighter classes for the duration of the eligible list,” she said in a statement. 

In a separate statement, Farinacci said that diversity is “critical” to the department and “that to truly keep our city safe, we need to look like the city we serve.” 

“That’s why we launched an aggressive recruitment campaign, ‘All Heroes Welcome,’ to attract a pool of qualified candidates from all neighborhoods and backgrounds, with a common desire to serve the public and save [lives],” she said. “This incredible $3 million ad campaign drew more than 21,000 New Yorkers to sit for the exam, and we are encouraged that the applicant pool is so diverse.” 

The multiple-choice section of the exam was administered between January and May of this year after the Department of Citywide Administrative Services — at the FDNY’s request — added 11 more testing dates across three weeks in late April and early May. Last year, DCAS delayed the registration period by three months, also at the FDNY’s request, to give the department more time to carry out its recruitment efforts.  

The department officially launched recruitment for the exam in May 2024, running ads on social media, in public transit and in newspapers.  

Exam results have yet to be released. A DCAS official said they’re aiming to publish results in the fall. Within the next two months, the FDNY is also expecting to release the results of its latest firefighter climate survey, which 63 percent of firefighters participated in when it was administered in late May and June, said Farinacci.

'Short from the goal'

All three of the last open competitive firefighter exams were conducted under the oversight of U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who was put in place by the federal monitor overseeing the FDNY as part of a settlement reached with the Vulcan Society — a fraternal organization of Black firefighters — on racial discrimination in the FDNY’s exams. 

During a May status conference, Nafeesah Noonan, the deputy director of the FDNY’s office of recruitment and diversity, told Garaufis that the percentage of Black test-takers this year “was a bit short from the goal” of the department. The FDNY, however, did exceed its goals for Hispanic test takers, she added, but missed its goal for white test takers. 

The 11 extra exam sessions were added to ensure that all who registered for the exam had an opportunity to take the exam, Eric Eichenholtz, a lawyer in the city’s Law Department, said at the May status conference. These extensions “raised the percentage of Black and Hispanic test takers,” he said.  

Dana Lossia, a lawyer for the Vulcan Society who was present at the May conference said in an interview this week that the FDNY’s goals for diversity were “good and ambitious” and constructed under the oversight of the federal monitor. “They did not achieve the goals they set for themselves,” in terms of Black test takers, she added.  

Noonan suggested during the conference and Lossia mentioned in an interview this week that one factor which may have caused the department to miss their goal was DCAS’ introduction of the “other” category likely selected by a number of individuals who are biracial or identify with multiple racial groups.

Andrew Ansbro, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said in a text message that the low turnout for this year's open competitive test is "very troubling," and cited low starting pay, increased firefighter workload, and pension alterations as reasons fewer New Yorkers took the exam.

"For decades the greatest recruiter for the FDNY was the members of the FDNY, who would tell friends and family about the great pay, great benefits and great work atmosphere," he said. "Now those same firefighters tell potential candidates the new truth, that the low starting pay will keep you living in your parent's basement and then when you can finally afford a house it will be outside the city.... If New York City wants to ensure they have a large pool of candidates to pick from to fill the ranks of New York City heroes, the city needs to pay them a competitive wage that allows them to move out of mommy and daddy's basement, make meaningful progress on providing staffing in [the city's] busiest neighborhoods and work to reverse the pension changes."

The president of the Vulcan Society, Jonathan Logan, said Wednesday that he does not yet have a comment on the exam, noting that he’s yet to see the exam data. Regina Wilson, the Vulcan’s former president who worked closely with the FDNY’s recruitment effort, also declined to comment. 

Once the eligible list is established by DCAS, the FDNY will begin calling exam-takers one by one to take the candidate physical aptitude test or CPAT, one of the last steps before training at the FDNY firefighter academy.

hfreeman@thechiefleader.com