Fire Dept. Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to Step Down

Laura Kavanagh, the commissioner of the New York Fire Department, said on Saturday that she would resign after less than two years in the role, giving no explanation for her sudden departure and capping a rocky tenure marked by infighting at the nation’s largest fire department.

Ms. Kavanagh was appointed to the role by Mayor Eric Adams in October 2022 after serving as interim commissioner for eight months. She was the first woman to oversee the agency in its nearly 160-year history and, at the age of 40, was the youngest to serve in the role in over a century.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to devote the last 10 years — five as first deputy commissioner and more than two as commissioner — to advocating for the men and women of the F.D.N.Y.,” Ms. Kavanagh said in a statement on Saturday. “While the decision I have made over the last month has been a hard one, I’m confident that it is time for me to pass the torch to the next leader of the finest fire department in the world.”

Ms. Kavanagh said in her statement that she would stay in the role for the next several months to assist in the transition until a new commissioner is named. She thanked Mr. Adams for his continued support and for giving her the opportunity to serve.

Ms. Kavanagh was named interim commissioner in February 2022 after the previous commissioner, Daniel A. Nigro, retired. She had served as Mr. Nigro’s first deputy and had held several other positions in the department after she joined in 2014.

But shortly after taking the helm in fall 2022, Ms. Kavanagh faced pushback from other top officials in the department, who took aim at her lack of firefighting experience.