Elon Musk says Mamdani’s FDNY pick has no firefighting experience: ‘People will die’

Elon Musk recently criticised New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s choice of Lillian Bonsignore as the next commissioner of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). He argued that the appointment could have deadly consequences because she lacks firefighting experience.“People will die because of this,” he wrote on X, reacting to a video noting that Bonsignore has never fought fires. “Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” he added.
Bonsignore served 31 years in the FDNY as an emergency medical technician and retired in 2022. She will be the second woman to lead the department and its first openly-gay commissioner. The appointment has the backing of unions representing firefighters, FDNY officers, and medics.
Musk’s post drew more than 25 million views within 24 hours and received more than 184,000 likes. Others on social media questioned the appointment. “Here we go again,” said Megyn Kelly.Breanna Morello wrote, “Zohran Mamdani appointed Lillian Bonsignore as new FDNY Commissioner. Only problem is…she’s never been a firefighter. Word of advice, you can’t put out fires with rainbow flags.”

Eric Daugherty called the move “a freaking train wreck” and added, “Glad I don’t live in NYC.”Supporters also defended Bonsignore. Retired NYPD Lt. John Macari posted that the last two FDNY commissioners appointed by Mayor Eric Adams had no operational FDNY experience and noted that the current NYPD commissioner had no law-enforcement background. He wrote that Bonsignore has 30 years of EMS experience and that most FDNY calls are EMS runs.

Former FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh praised the appointment on LinkedIn. “When I was sworn in, I said it only meant something to be first if I wasn’t the last. I’m so happy I didn’t have to wait long for that to be the case,” she wrote.

She said, “Mayor-elect Mamdani has made a terrific choice, and the City and FDNY are lucky to have her.” Kavanagh served from February 2022 to August 2024 and also did not have firefighting experience.

Bonsignore will assume leadership after Mamdani is sworn in on January 1. Her appointment came as Mayor Eric Adams separately named Mark Guerra as fire commissioner to complete his term following the resignation of Robert Tucker. Guerra had been serving as interim commissioner.

Mamdani replied to Musk online. He said, “Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS.” He added, “You know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?”

(With input from agencies)