Celebrate Diversity in New York City's Fire Department!

Most "diverse" and geriatric rookie firefighters ever!

What's not to like about that?

I mean, what could possibly go wrong? 

I know if my house was burning, I would certainly want the oldest firemen in the squad, and the MOST DIVERSE coming with the big hose.

"A 2007 discrimination lawsuit filed against the Fire Department by the feds gave new life to minority applicants who took the fire exam in 1999, 2000 and beyond but weren’t hired for a variety of reasons."

(Like what??)

"While they normally would have been looking for jobs in other professions after hitting the age of 30, they were allowed — thanks to the settlement — to retake the city’s written and physical exams, passed and were hired."

“This new class of probationary firefighters is a testament to the outstanding work by the department to meet our long-standing goal of diversifying our ranks and better representing the city we serve,” Cassano said, without mentioning the federal lawsuit. "

Funny, I would have thought the goals of a fire department would be, you know-having the best people possible (i.e: strongest and bravest and smartest) to fight fires. But then again, I'm not that bright.

The main thing is that minorities and diverse groups of people feel good about themselves, right?!?!