After several delays to try and attract more FDNY candidates, the filing for the city’s upcoming firefighter exam has finally closed — with historic gains in the number of African-Americans, Asians, Latinos and women who applied.
The FDNY had planned to close filing on April 25 for the highly competitive firefighter entrance exam that will be given in the fall.
But in an effort to boost the diversity of candidates, it extended the deadline several times, until declaring June 9 the drop-dead cut-off date.
The last-minute push appeared to bear some fruit for the department, which is under the eye of a federal judge as part of its 2014 settlement with black firefighters, who brought a landmark discrimination case against the agency.