The New York City Fire Department has recently undergone some major leadership changes following a scandalous incident earlier in the year that involved Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Newly-appointed FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker ousted First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfiefer just days after Tucker took command, according to the New York Post.

Pfiefer had served briefly as Acting Commissioner following the resignation earlier this month of former Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who in March sided with AG James and sharply criticized her own rank-and-file firefighters after some had booed and heckled the state's top prosecutor during a promotion ceremony.

Top deputy of former commissioner sent packing

The now-former First Deputy Commissioner Pfiefer retired from the FDNY in 2018 following a 37-year career with the department but was called back out of retirement last year by then-Commissioner Kavanagh after she demoted several of the department's chiefs.

His return to the force was lucrative as it allowed him to legally "double dip" around $522,000 from taxpayers by way of his annual salary of more than $242,000 combined with his pension of nearly $280,000 per year.

It is unclear why Pfiefer was forced out by new Commissioner Tucker aside from his close connection to former Commissioner Kavanagh, but the mayor's office supported the move and observed that Tucker had the proper authority to build a new leadership team of his choosing.

A political operative and administrator elevated to commissioner's role

Pfiefer took over as the FDNY's Acting Commissioner earlier in August following the formal departure of former Commissioner Kavanagh, who announced her impending resignation in mid-July, according to WNBC.

Kavanagh, who was never an actual firefighter, was appointed as the FDNY's first female commissioner by the mayor in 2022, which capped off a 10-year career with the department in various administrative roles, including several years as first deputy commissioner and a short stint as acting commissioner.

Prior to joining the FDNY, she had served as a top adviser to former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and, before that, had been a campaign staffer for both de Blasio and former President Barack Obama.

Kavanagh sided with AG James against her own firefighters

According to a New York Post report in June, Kavanagh's tenure as FDNY's leader took a dramatic turn for the worse following the release of text messages she sent to AG James that criticized and belittled members of her own force in the aftermath of an incident in March in which the prosecutor had been booed and heckled by current and retired rank-and-file firefighters.

James, who had just prevailed in her massive civil fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, received an unfriendly reception from pro-Trump firefighters when she delivered remarks at a promotion ceremony -- an incident that elicited an apology on their behalf from Kavanagh and high praise from her for the anti-Trump prosecutor.

"I should have called you last night, but I’ve been trying to find a way to say I’m sorry that doesn’t involve me apologizing for men who don’t deserve such grace," Kavanagh told James. "I haven’t succeeded. I am sorry that we didn’t stop them and that I can’t fix them."

Her apparent betrayal of the men who served under her was compounded by a leaked memo from one of her underlings that announced an internal investigation of the heckling, vowed that investigators would "figure out who the members are," and threateningly added, "I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the Commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward, and we don't have to hunt them down," according to Fox News.

The outlet noted that Kavanagh herself was booed by her own firefighters days later at the city's St. Patrick's Day parade and is also facing an age discrimination-related lawsuit from the former chiefs she'd previously demoted.