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History
- Print number 4249a
- Amend and recommit to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4249A
Title of bill
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to residency requirements for firefighters in a city with a population of one million or more
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this bill is to require all members of the uniformed force of the. fire department to reside in New York City for a year prior to the date of appointment and throughout the duration of their service.
Summary of specific provisions
Amends Subdivision 9 of section 3 of the public officers law, as amended by chapter 209 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
Beginning January first, two thousand eleven no person shall be appointed a paid member of the uniformed force of a paid fire department in a city with a population of one million or more that does not reside in the political subdivision or municipal corporation of the state for which he or she shall be chosen for one year prior to being appointed and continues to reside therein.
Justification
This legislation will address the appalling lack of diversity in the New York City Fire Department, and the refusal of the city to comply with a federal court decision to remedy the impact of racially discriminatory entrance requirements and past practices.
Currently, firefighters can reside in one of the five boroughs of New York City or in the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange or Putnam. This bill would impose a mandatory residency requirement for all new entry-level firefighters and require all interested applicants to be residents of New York City for at least one year prior to appointment and city residency thereafter for the duration of service.
The black and Latino communities make up more than half the total population of the City of New York. Yet, the fire department is more than ninety percent white male. In contrast, more than half of the firefighters in Chicago and Philadelphia, and 40 percent of the firefighters in Boston are comprised of people of color. Unlike New York, stringent residency requirements exist in these other cities.
In August, Federal District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that the FDNY entrance exam was unfairly biased against minority candidates and does not successfully establish a difference between qualified and unqualified candidates. The decision would permit the city to do interim hiring as long as it was done in a
non-discriminatory manner. However the city rejected the proposal, deeming it to be inappropriately race-based.
The workforce of the fire department should be reflective of the tremendous racial and ethnic diversity in New York City. Instead, the fire department remains an institution largely unavailable to the black, Latino and Asian communities. A New York City-based residency requirement will increase diversity in the FDNY, while accomplishing this objective in a lawful and race-neutral fashion.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications for state & local governments
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the 90th day after it shall have became law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.