Firefight: The Century-Long Battle To Integrate New York's Bravest

The complexities of firehouses in New York date back to the Tammany Hall era, when all-volunteer firehouses were used to increase votes for corrupt politicians. The present-day Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY) grew out of the draft riots of 1863 and brought with it nepotism, favoritism, and discriminatory hiring practices. New York Daily News reporter Otis, who previously reported on the FDNY for The Chief-Leader, adeptly weaves the many threads of the department's troubled racial history in this engrossing book. Otis maintains the saga is ongoing. In 2012, African Americans comprised 26 percent of New York City's population yet the FDNY had a mere 300 black firefighters out of 11,000 (around 2.73 percent). Stories of those working to integrate the department are fascinating, while the continued resistance by city and FDNY officials to address discrimination is both frustrating and infuriating. After working to increase the diversity of the force (and battling the Bloomberg administration in court), the Vulcan Society (Fraternal Order of Black Firefighters) has started to make much-needed progress in changing the department's culture.