New York City’s fire commissioner is leaving the department at the end of the year to pursue teaching opportunities.

Nicholas Scoppetta took over just months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack that devastated the FDNY, killing 343. He said in a letter to staff Thursday that he took the post because he wanted to help the city recover from the tragedy. He said the biggest challenge of his job was to rebuild the ranks while preparing to respond to another attack.

Scoppetta, born on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1932, met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg in August and told him he was leaving.

(Source: CBS2 HD)