Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Friday slammed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) for appointing a non-firefighter to lead the city’s fire department.
“People will die because of this. Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” the former White House adviser wrote in a post on the social platform X, which he controls.
Musk and officials from the Trump administration have previously shared harsh criticism for Mamdani and his proposed plans for once he’s sworn in as mayor.
Despite White House opposition, Mamdani is set to take office in January and has appointed Lillian Bonsignore, a veteran emergency medical services leader, to lead the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).
Bonsignore, who came out of retirement to accept the post, is making history as New York’s first openly gay fire commissioner and the second woman to lead the department, according to Fox 5.
“Bonsignore’s calm, decisive leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic – when EMS professionals were more vital than ever – is exactly the kind of leadership our city needs in moments of uncertainty,” Mamdani said in a statement to City and State New York.
She ran the city’s emergency operations for years, first as chief of the EMS Academy at Fort Totten in 2016, and then as chief of EMS Operations from 2019-2020, ABC 7 reported.
“I know what EMS needs. I have been EMS for 30-plus years. And now you have a commissioner that could start an IV,” the 56-year-old said during her acceptance remarks.
Her comments came after sitting Mayor Eric Adams (D) used the Christmas holiday to make a dueling appointment for New York’s fire chief.
Earlier in the week, Adams appointed Mark Guerra, 63, to serve in the role.
“Activities that take place in the police department and all of our public safety apparatus don’t go on holiday,” Adams said, according to ABC 7.
“They don’t stop,” he added.
Guerra’s been an FDNY member for 37 years, per Fox 5. Mamdani brushed aside the appointment, noting that Adams’s administration is on a time clock.
“Lillian’s light is one that can’t be dimmed by anything else that takes place,” Mamdani said, as reported by Fox 5. “The mayor is free to continue to be the mayor until the end of this year and make decisions as such.”
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