City firefighters seeking promotion to lieutenant keep getting burned.
The FDNY is refusing to move anyone who took the civil service exam for lieutenant in December 2022 up the career ladder — thanks to a screwup by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
Nearly 900 firefighters were initially told they passed the test, which was the first offered in seven years due to hiring freezes and the pandemic.
But DCAS soon conceded it incorrectly calculated the grades by relying too much on applicants’ FDNY seniority. In September, DCAS released a new list of those who passed, with 1,678 making the grade.
However, sources said the FDNY has refused to use that list to promote because the city’s fire unions and many of its members insist the exam was wrongly graded on a “curve” by awarding credit for incorrect answers.
This, they said, allowed failing applicants to pass.
The debacle follows DCAS so badly botching the last FDNY lieutenant exam in 2015, that it had to be regraded three times.
“To lower the precedent of what it takes to be a Fire Officer in the FDNY not only puts firefighters in danger, it puts the public in greater danger,” wrote a group representing the most recent test-takers called “LT Exam 0569 Eligibles Association” in a Jan. 15 message to elected city officials.
“Without enough officers to staff positions, the FDNY will be forced to either have untrained firefighters act out-of-title as officers, or to close down companies,” added the group.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who chairs the committee on fire and emergency management, said DCAS’s “lack of transparency” on grading the exam is “mindboggling,” and questioned whether it’s implementing measures that could weaken the officer talent pool.
“The FDNY is the greatest fire department in the world and should be led by the greatest officers in the world,” she said. “Anything that would lessen the quality of those officers should be rejected outright.”
Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said his members are “concerned” about DCAS graded the test and why the “process has been kept secret.”
“I have members with scores that were lowered substantially that are upset, but I also have members that had substantial grade increases that are concerned they are being given something that they didn’t ask for, and will be looked down upon for taking the promotion out of turn,” he said.
“But the biggest concern is that due to the failures of DCAS, this examination is heading toward the courthouse, and everyone is afraid that it will be thrown out, which would have a devastating effect for the FDNY.”
Jim Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said DCAS’s “purpose” is assuring a “fair and transparent process” on the hiring and promotions of city workers and that its “refusal to show firefighters the unconventional manner in which this exam was graded contradicts that purpose.”
DCAS insisted its administration of civil service exams “is a fair and transparent process” but declined to address concerns raised about its new list of lieutenant candidates.
The FDNY declined to comment.
Veteran firefighters promoted to lieutenant usually see their salaries, including fringe benefits, jump from $110,293 to $125,848, according to the FDNY.