Outgoing FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh wipes away tears during last official event with ‘sweet surprise’
She’s going out in a blaze of glory.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh wiped away tears as an EMS promotion ceremony Friday — her last official event as fire boss — was interrupted with a surprise video that honored her historic tenure.
“I’m clearly not making through this without crying, sorry,” she told the crowd at St. John’s University in Queens.
“That was a very sweet surprise.”
The bittersweet moment belied the tensions that Kavanagh, the FDNY’s 42-year-old first woman commissioner, experienced heading a male-dominated department for nearly two years.
While Kavanagh publicly said she was quitting out of a desire to spend more time with family and friends, sources have told The Post that she was smoked out during persistent clashes with FDNY brass and rank-and-file Bravest.
But bitterness was not displayed Friday during the ceremony where 49 EMS lieutenants were promoted and took their oaths.
Chief of EMS Operations Michael Fields turned to Kavanagh and praised her for elevating paramedics and EMTs above being considered the department’s second-class citizens.
“She has been the biggest, baddest advocate for the New York City Fire Department, in particular for EMS,” Fields said. “We are truly going to miss you. I pray we are going to get somebody that cares as much as you care.”
Kavanagh told The Post afterward that the kind words and the video — which highlighted her accomplishments, including her advocacy for the EMS and fighting against dangerous lithium-ion batteries — showed the department is like a family.
“You care about everybody personally,” she said. “You worry about them like they’re your family. You fight for them like they’re your family.
“So it’s very hard to say goodbye, even if it’s the right time.”
Kavanagh’s official last day as FDNY commissioner is next week, but the department had a going-away party for her scheduled for Friday.
Mayor Eric Adams has yet to name Kavanagh’s successor. He has hinted that Kavanagh could take on another role in his administration.
Kavanagh said she doesn’t yet have a plan for once she leaves the department beyond spending time with family.
“I’m going to take at least a month away before I make any decisions,” she told The Post. “Big decisions are best made rested.”
