Elon Musk threw chilly water on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s choose of Lillian Bonsignore as town’s FDNY commissioner, warning it will have dire penalties as a result of she lacks firefighting expertise.
“People will die because of this. Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” the Area X and Tesla proprietor mentioned early Friday night in a submit on X, which he additionally owns.
Bonsignore would be the first LGBTQ head of the FDNY in its 160-year historical past, a reality conservative critics who piled on towards her on Friday discover particularly galling.
“I know if I’m burning to death in a building I’ll at least be happy knowing that while the FDNY commissioner never ever served as a firefighter, she’s a lesbian,” Brianna Lyman, an elections correspondent at The Federalist, scoffed on X.
Becoming a member of in on the assault, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sarcastically quipped of Bonsignore’s appointment, “A great idea! unless there’s a fire. …”
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Lillian Bonsignore are pictured throughout a press convention asserting her appointment as the long run FDNY commissioner on Dec. 23, 2025, on the FDNY EMS Coaching Academy in Ft. Totten Park in Bayside, Queens. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Bonsignore served within the FDNY EMS for greater than three a long time, rising to chief of the EMS division, holding the highest submit for 3 years earlier than retiring in 2022. Her tenure as EMS chief overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, a interval that noticed the division’s EMTs and paramedics below large pressure.
Like her, town’s previous two Fireplace Division commissioners additionally have been by no means firefighters. Outgoing Commissioner Robert Tucker beforehand labored in international safety and cyberintelligence. His predecessor, Laura Kavanagh, organized political campaigns earlier than becoming a member of the FDNY, the place she held varied senior roles, although by no means as a firefighter, earlier than Mayor Adams tapped her to be the Bravest’s first feminine commissioner.
In the meantime, Saturday night, Mamdani went proper again atcha at Musk, posting, “Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS. You know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?”
Others additionally had the again of Bronx native Bonsignore, together with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).
“Lillian Bonsignore is a 31-year veteran of the FDNY. The far right never lets facts get in the way of their narrative,” Torres retorted.
“If you think that a Fox & Friends weekend host is qualified to be the Secretary of Defense but don’t think that a 9/11 first responder, with 31 years of experience, with the FDNY, should not be the Commissioner, then you just may be dumb as s–t,” fumed X poster Turnbull, who regularly skewers conservatives and their insurance policies.
John Macari Jr., a retired NYPD lieutenant-turned-podcaster, additionally lashed again at Musk and the right-wingers, posting, “The last 2 FDNY Fire Commissioners appointed by Eric Adams had 0 actual FDNY operational experience. Eric Adams current NYPD Police Commissioner also has 0 Law Enforcement experience. Lillian Bonsignore has 30 years of FDNY EMS experience. The overwhelming majority of calls handled by firefighters are EMS runs.”
The nasty criticism, nonetheless, is unlikely to rattle the longtime FDNY EMS professional.
“I know the job,” Bonsignore mentioned confidently on Tuesday when Mamdani introduced her appointment. “I know what the firefighters need and I can translate that to this administration, who’s willing to listen. I know what EMS needs, I have been EMS for 30-plus years.”
The FDNY’s two main unions each enthusiastically help Bonsignore’s appointment as commissioner, lauding her as having confirmed expertise as an emergency responder who additionally led EMS by means of the disaster of the pandemic.
