After Resigning over Racist Tweets, Former FDNY Commish's Son to Become Firefighter

The son of a former FDNY Commissioner who resigned after firing off racist tweets is about to be back on the job, in a new role

The New York Daily News reports that former commissioner Salvatore Cassano's son, Joe, will start the fire academy later this month.

The younger Cassano, 28, retired from FDNY EMS in 2013 after a series of anti-Semitic tweets, including “I like Jews about as much as hitler #toofar? NOPE.” He was in his rookie year as an EMT at the time when he also sent out a tweet about Martin Luther King day.

Cassano returned to FDNY EMS in 2015 after going to counseling, The Daily News reports.

He called his earlier actions “very ignorant and very immature."

The move to hire Cassano as a firefighter angered members of the Vulcan Society, the department's association of black firefighters. 

“It’s unfortunate the FDNY has allowed someone who has proven themselves to be a bigot to beat the system," Vulcan Society President Regina Wilson said. "The FDNY isn’t showing it does all it can for inclusiveness and diversity when it goes out of its way to hire someone who violated its policies."

FDNY officials said the younger Cassano passed background checks needed to get hired as a firefighter.