FDNY commissioner visits Staten Island firehouses, EMS stations to hear from members

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.—FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker had a busy Friday, visiting a Staten Island child who was recuperating from a fire and meeting with the men and women who serve at every firehouse and emergency medical services station in the borough.

I was born in Manhattan, attended high school in the Bronx, worked as an assistant D.A. in Queens for my first professional job before moving to Brooklyn, and I felt it was crucial to visit every firehouse and emergency medical facility in Staten Island, Tucker said.

Before stopping by Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze in the afternoon to wish a happy birthday to Ian Pereles, a 2-year-old kid who suffered catastrophic injuries in a Graniteville fire on January 17, the commissioner spent his morning doing just that.

On Friday, January 31, 2025, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker stopped by Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze to pay a visit to Ian Pereles, a young fire victim. (Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)STATETEN ISLAND PROGRESS

Tucker had just three or four more visits to make on the Island by the time he arrived at the hospital, which was approximately midday.

According to Tucker, the goal of this borough-wide tour was to learn more about the department on the Island and the people who defend our city on a daily basis.

“I think it’s really important to meet with the members on both the fire operations side and the EMS side,” Tucker said. When you sit in the kitchens of our firehouses and EMS stations and listen to the members, you truly get a sense of what is happening in our department both operationally and culturally. I also wanted to express my gratitude to all of the members for their warm welcome and their candor regarding some of the department’s difficulties, particularly those related to emergency medical services, which I am attempting to resolve.

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