Council OKs one-time waiver for age-barred FDNY firefighter hopefuls

FDNY emergency medical personnel hoping to join the city's Bravest but who aged-out of eligibility since the pandemic-era 2020 exam was canceled will get a one-time waiver to take the October test, according to legislation passed by the City Council Thursday. 

The legislation, sponsored by Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer, covers any EMS members who had not reached their 29th birthday, the application age threshold for FDNY firefighter hopefuls, by Dec. 31, 2019. 

According to officials, 324 EMS workers have since eclipsed their 29th birthday but would have been eligible to take the most recent scheduled exam in 2020 but which was canceled because of the pandemic.  

Brewer said in a statement following the bill’s passage that young people with the proper qualifications deserve a fair shot at becoming an FDNY firefighter. “Being shut out because of interruptions to the civil service exam schedule during the worst of the pandemic is far from fair,” she said. “I am so impressed by the EMTs and other advocates who fought for this legislation. They deserve credit and, more importantly, the opportunity to serve the city.” 

Mayor Eric Adams still has to sign the bill for it to become law. His office did not immediately return a request for comment on the legislation. The filing window for the promotional exam is Oct. 4 to Oct. 24. The last such exam, in December 2016, attracted 1,100 EMS workers; 900 passed and became firefighters.   

“Our city's Emergency Medical Services staff are essential to the health and safety of all New Yorkers, and we should support their efforts to serve our communities,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement. “We are proud to pass a one-time waiver to the maximum age requirement for EMS workers so those whose promotional exams were delayed because of the pandemic can have a fair shot at securing an opportunity to serve our city as firefighters.” 

Neither of the unions representing EMS workers are enthusiastic about the bill, seeing it as another means through which an already understaffed and overworked service will become even more hollowed out. Vincent Variale, president of District Council 37 Local 3621, the EMS officers’ union, told The Chief earlier this month that allowing members to leave the service to become firefighters would “decimate the EMS rank and file.”

hfreeman@thechiefleader.com

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