EthnicMajority

(NY1) The New York City Fire Department is once again feeling the heat from a federal judge over its hiring practices.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis says despite progress on diversity in recent recruiting, the department hasn't done enough to reverse discrimination against black and Hispanic candidates.

He's expected to spell out a solution in a separate ruling.

The written entrance exam is being redesigned after the judge ruled it favored white applicants back in 2007.

But the judge now says the process that follows the test also favors white candidates.

Since they make up most of the department, the judge says they have a better chance of having potential background problems overlooked.

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(NY1) The New York City Fire Department today unveiled a new print and radio ad campaign as it prepares to take on a new class of firefighters for the first time in years.

The department is looking to get a lot of people interested in taking the firefighter entrance exam, tentatively scheduled for January.

More than $1 million will be spent on advertising the test.

Speaking at Engine 37/Ladder 40 in Harlem, Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano said being a firefighter is the greatest job in the world.

"In the first year an FDNY firefighter will earn about $40,000. That's just the start. And that salary can increase to up to $100,00 in five year. Let me repeat that, up to $100,000 in five years. You get excellent health benefits and medical benefits for you and your family, and you enjoy those medical benefits for the rest of your life," Cassano said.

The FDNY has been unable to hire any firefighters since 2007 because a federal judge ruled the last three exams discriminated against blacks and Hispanics.

A new test is being worked on.

Of the more than 10,000 current firefighters only nine percent are black or Hispanic; one percent are Asian.

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(NY Daily News) Veterans who dreamed of joining the FDNY vented frustration yesterday with a judge’s decision to cancel a class of firefighters because he said the test they took was biased.

“The people who are supposed to be getting helped [by this ruling] could be the one getting hurt,” said Nafis Sabir, a 33-year-old African-American man who spent eight years in the Marine Reserves.

“I feel pretty frustrated,” said Sabir, one of 50 military veterans among the 312 candidates set to enter the department. “I didn’t see where the racial bias [was] coming from.

“If I never got to become a firefighter, I would have a pretty bitter taste in my mouth,” added Sabir, who was deployed to Kuwait in 2003.

Military veterans got extra points on the 2007 FDNY test that Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis threw out on Wednesday, saying it was discriminatory.

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