Tonya Boyd is FDNY's first black female to lead EMS training

Submit

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

The FDNY is replacing its longtime chief of training for Emergency Medical Services with the first black female to hold the post, the latest personnel shakeup in the embattled agency.

Tonya Boyd, a 26-year FDNY veteran who is currently division chief of the Public Safety Answering Center in downtown Brooklyn, will lead EMS training effective April 9, according to an internal department order.

She’ll take over for Joseph Pataky, who was reassigned as a deputy assistant chief overseeing EMS response in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The move caused some grumbling among longtime FDNY staffers.

"She replaced a white male with a black female," griped a veteran firefighter.

The source also said he believed Commissioner Laura Kavanagh purposely moved Pataky "who lives on Long Island, to Staten Island for no reason other than her loathing for anyone who dares to disagree with her or raise concerns."

In December, Kavanagh appointed Michael Fields to chief of EMS Operations, making him the first black man in FDNY history to hold that post.

The latest transfers come amid a revolt by some of the FDNY's mostly white male chiefs, who’ve complained Kavanagh has violated unofficial, longstanding department protocols.

Kavanagh, the city's first female fire commissioner, was slapped with a bombshell age discrimination lawsuit on Thursday alleging she demoted, ousted, forced into retirement or retaliated against 15 top older department staffers, including chiefs.

FDNY spokeswoman Amanda Farinacci said of the moves, "The FDNY routinely changes member and officer assignments to handle the ever-changing needs of our Emergency Medical Service."