By Brad Hamilton
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano's son and two other scions of FDNY brass have joined the city's Emergency Medical Services corps, which has been used as an insider's shortcut to becoming a firefighter.
EMS members can have first crack at joining the Bravest - and entering the FDNY by that route helps them slide by new minority- hiring rules, critics say.
That's because EMS personnel, who are 40 percent minority and already FDNY employees, get priority when the department picks Fire Academy recruits.
The entire current class of probies, the first since 2008, all worked for EMS.
A federal judge imposed new rules on diversity that put EMS candidates and minorities previously denied admission ahead of "open competitive" applicants.
Fire honchos "looked at EMS and said, 'Let's see if we can use it to get the federal government off our backs,' " said one FDNY insider. "But it's also an opportunity to get their family through."
Said another source, "They created a side entrance for certain candidates who want more rapid advancement."
The newest EMS hires include Joseph Cassano, 23, the commissioner's youngest son, who got a job in December as an emergency medical technician, along with 100 others.
He is joined by Paul Jensen, 24, the son of Chief Thomas Jensen, who heads the department's fire-prevention unit, and James Howe, 20, the son of Deputy Chief Richard Howe.
In two years, the trio will be eligible to join the FDNY, a job with better pay and more prestige. The starting salary for an EMT is $31,931. Firefighters start at $39,370, with top pay reaching $76,370 in five years.
Asked if he planned to join the Bravest, James Howe said, "I'm just taking it step by step. I really like EMS so far."
Chief Jensen shrugged off allegations that medical service was a shortcut for family of senior members like himself.
"I think it's overblown," he said.
Neither of the Cassanos could be reached for comment, but the younger Cassano made his plans clear on Twitter.
"Everybody wanna be a firefighter, but don't nobody wanna be a damn EMT," Joseph Cassano tweeted earlier this month.
"I hate ems," he tweeted in February.
Said FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon, "There is no shortcut or fast track to becoming an EMT or firefighter because of who you're related to."
One source said FDNY leaders often encourage relatives to start at EMS and are in a position to help them get those jobs.
"These legacy candidates get looked at by an investigative unit at Fire Headquarters," he said.
"They all know Cassano's name. What investigator is going to give [Cassano's son] a bad report?"
Critics say the FDNY has watered down its standards after federal judge Nicholas Garaufis found that the department had discriminated against minorities for years.
EMS members trying to become firefighters, such as cops or ex- soldiers, earn extra credits automatically. That, in turn, boosts their ranking on FDNY hiring lists.
And this year, as in years past, EMS members did not have to score well on a physical test, unlike open candidates. They simply had to pass an obstacle course.
Joseph Cassano, who lives with his father on Staten Island, hardly distinguished himself at the EMS Academy.
He was one of only five of 101 trainees to fail a basic-vehicle course, which means he's not allowed to drive an ambulance, according to EMS documents.
"In the real world, he never would have been hired," said a source. "He got in because he was on the promotional list."
brad.hamilton@mypost.com
Originally published by Brad Hamilton.
© 2013 The New York Post. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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