FDNY Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro stepped over a steaming pile of controversy Saturday as he deflected questions about Firefighter Joseph Cassano's pooping arrest in New Jersey.
“It’s quite unfortunate,” Nigro said about the June 10 arrest where Cassano — who became a firefighter in April after he left the department in disgrace in 2013 over racist tweets — allegedly defecated on a stranger’s lawn furniture following a night of drinking in Lake Como, N.J. “We will see how it plays out. It’s all we can say now.”
Cassano, the son of former FDNY Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano, has been suspended by the department for 30 days. As a probationary firefighter, any kind of trouble with the law, no matter how minor, could lead to termination, officials said.
“He is on an unpaid suspension and the disciplinary process is playing out,” Nigro said as he visited an open house event at Engine 307/Ladder 154 in Corona, Queens, where area residents were given free smoke detectors.