Emergency Medical Services Chief Replaced Amid Criticism of City's Blizzard Response

The Fire Department’s commissioner announced today he was replacing the chief of the city’s Emergency Medical Service Command in the wake of the city’s response to a recent blizzard that blanketed the five boroughs.

FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano has appointed Abdo Nahmod, a 25-year EMS veteran who previously worked as Staten Island’s borough commander and the city’s chief of emergency medical dispatch, to replace John Peruggia, who served as the city’s EMS chief for six years.

In a statement, Cassano suggested that Peruggia’s replacement was related to criticism of the city’s snow removal efforts during a blizzard that hit the city on Dec. 27, leaving two feet of snow in parts of Queens.

“We have made some changes and, despite Chief Peruggia’s dedicated service to the department, I felt new leadership was needed at this time,” Cassano said. “Last week’s blizzard presented tremendous challenges for the department that are currently being addressed with an eye toward improving performance going forward.”

Jerry Iannece, chairman of Community Board 11, blasted the city’s response to the snowstorm during the board’s monthly meeting last week. He told board members that many residents in Douglaston, Little Neck and Bayside were not able to leave their homes or drive their cars for several days due to the city’s delayed snow removal.

Today, Iannece said he did not know whether Peruggia’s replacement would change the city's protocol.

“It’s the typical Bloomberg management style where heads have to roll when things don’t go well,” he said. “The city shouldn’t be run like a business. I don’t think the city did a good job of cleaning the snow. [Peruggia] was at the top of the food chain. Whether he was at fault or not, I don’t know. They obviously didn’t believe he did the best job during the snowstorm.”

Elected officials representing northeast Queens, including state Senator Tony Avella, D-Bayside and Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, could not be reached for comment. Both of them have criticized the cleanup.

The City Council will hold hearings on the city’s response to the snowstorm on Monday.

Nahmod, who grew up in Beirut and moved to Paris before immigrating to the United States in 1967, began working with the city’s EMS in 1986.

“Chief Nahmod has shown tremendous dedication to this department and to the people of New York City throughout a long and distinguished career,” Cassano said on his choice for the EMS chief.