The new head of the Fire Department of New York, Daniel Nigro, pledged to continue reforming the nation’s largest firefighting agency as he was formally appointed fire commissioner Monday.

Mr. Nigro—a 32-year veteran who retired in 2002 as the top uniformed officer— promised a “new tone” in the department at an afternoon ceremony at FDNY headquarters in downtown Brooklyn. He replaces outgoing commissioner Salvatore Cassano, who held the post since January 2010.

“We will move forward and make the department even greater,” Mr. Nigro said, after arriving at the venue on a fire engine and being sworn into the role by Mayor Bill de Blasio. He added that the theme of his tenure would be, “it’s time.”

The commissioner takes charge of an agency with a legal mandate to diversify its staff and amid reviews into ambulance response times. He will also have to negotiate new labor agreements.

About Daniel A. Nigro

Raised in Bayside, Queens, where his father was a FDNY captain, Daniel A. Nigro has spent his life serving New York City’s fire department. Nigro began his career as a firefighter in 1969, and served as a lieutenant, captain and battalion chief in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, before his promotion to assistant to deputy fire commissioner in 1988. Nigro has held positions as chief of uniformed personnel, chief of health services, battalion and deputy chief, deputy assistant chief of operations, chief of emergency medical service, and citywide tour commander, among others, during his years with the FDNY.

In 1999, Nigro was appointed chief of operations, where he maintained preparedness, staffing and availability of units for fire and emergency response, and instituted a program similar to CompStat to measure and oversee key areas of accountability. On September 11, 2001, Nigro was appointed chief of department upon the death of Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr. in the collapse of the WTC North Tower. As the highest ranking uniformed member of the department and its chief operations officer, Nigro was instrumental in guiding the department through its loss after September 11, and assisted in providing plans to move the department toward better training and equipment to respond to all levels of emergency.

Nigro is a member of Friends of Firefighters, September 11th Families Association, Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance, and Columbia Association, among others. Most recently, he has provided consultation to fire departments on fire department management.

Nigro holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch College. He currently lives in Whitestone, Queens, with his wife Lynn. The couple has two daughters and three grandchildren.

(AP / YWN World Headquarters – NYC)