A bunch of Jewish firefighters say they’ve been ignored by FDNY brass and should not being handled like different ethnic teams on the metropolis fireplace division, in accordance with a scathing letter obtained by the Publish.
Within the missive despatched to Mayor Eric Adams Thursday, the FDNY Ner Tamid Society stated the division doesn’t make “cheap lodging for Orthodox Jews” and excluded the group from becoming a member of different ethnic firefighter organizations in designing management variety curriculum.
“In addition to facilitating an annual Hanukkah occasion, the Fireplace Division doesn’t interact with our society,” learn the letter signed by Yonatan Klein, President of Ner Tamid Society and the opposite Ner Tamid Society leaders.
The letter was prompted by FDNY’s new advert marketing campaign known as “All Heros Welcomed” — which ran a social media advert on Might 14 — that implied the division favored inclusivity and featured a photograph that the Ner Tamid Society stated had no Jewish folks in it.
The group stated they contacted a lawyer on the FDNY’s Workplace of Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion,the following day to rearrange a gathering with Fireplace Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to debate the advert.
They have been advised they might have a gathering, however that Kavanagh wouldn’t be there.
As an alternative, the Workplace of DE&I might relay any considerations to Kavanagh.
“This remedy is unacceptable. We don’t require an middleman to debate recruitment and different excellent points which have negatively impacted and marginalized our society, together with issues with cheap lodging for orthodox Jews,” Ner Tamid Society members wrote within the letter.
The group additionally stated they have been excluded from advising on curriculum associated to the FDNY Management Improvement Program when different teams, such because the FDNY Hispanic Society, Vulcan Society, United Ladies Firefighters, and all of the Fireplace and EMS Unions have been invited.
“The society urgently seeks to be handled like all fraternal group and to have a chance to fulfill with management earlier than further points come up,” wrote the group.
The FDNY responded to the letter by saying “The Commissioner values the contributions of the Ner Tamid society.”
And so they added: “This request by no means made it to the commissioners desk, and had the commissioner obtained the request she would have stated sure. She is pleased they reached out and appears ahead to assembly with them and listening to out their vital considerations.”
Sources stated it’s widespread for fraternal teams to have a pre-meeting with lower-level officers earlier than a sit down with the commissioner is cleared.
