The FDNY has transferred nine firefighters and suspended 11 more — plus a captain and two lieutenants — over videos of probationary firefighters being hazed, the Daily News has learned.
The two separate Bronx hazing incidents involved new FDNY members doing pushups face-first into cakes and hugging naked men.
The FDNY has transferred nine firefighters from Engine 38/Ladder 51 on Eastchester Road in Williamsbridge and suspended and transferred an FDNY lieutenant, officials said.
And at Engine 43/Ladder 59 on Sedgwick Ave. in Morris Heights, 11 firefighters have been suspended and transferred, as well as a captain and a lieutenant.
The transferred FDNY members have been reassigned to stationhouses scattered throughout the city.
An FDNY source close to the matter said the department came down hard on its members believed to be involved in the incidents “to show everyone we’re not kidding” about the FDNY’s anti-hazing policy. The investigation is continuing.
Videos of the hazing of probationary firefighters made the rounds on social media late last week.
In one of the videos, three firefighters were recorded doing pushups face-first into cakes laid out in front of them on the floor as an off-camera voice counts up to 20. That video was recorded at Engine 38/Ladder 51, sources said.
The second video, which appears to show three uniformed rookie firefighters lined up against the wall of a paddleball court awkwardly shaking hands and hugging two naked men wearing only shoes, involved members of Engine 43/Ladder 59, sources said.
The videos were recorded just hours after 344 probationary firefighters graduated from the FDNY Fire Academy on Thursday.
Each FDNY engine and ladder company has five firefighters assigned to it per shift. The two stationhouses will remain staffed despite the transfers and suspensions and public safety will not be affected, FDNY sources said.
An FDNY spokeswoman said Sunday that the department “immediately launched an investigation” once the videos surfaced.
“The FDNY has a zero-tolerance policy against hazing,” the spokeswoman said. “Some members have already been suspended, and further action will be taken as the investigation progresses. Hazing of any kind will never be tolerated.”
The FDNY code of conduct explicitly forbids hazing.
“There is a clear breakdown in communications from the top down that this type of behavior has no place in the FDNY,” said attorney Peter Gleason, who has represented dozens of FDNY members in lawsuits against the department. “How can junior members of the department decipher what appropriate behavior is?”
An anti-hazing policy was adopted by the FDNY in 2013.
In 2017, the FDNY launched an investigation into whether there was a “culture of hazing” in the department.
Originally Published: September 30, 2025 at 2:56 PM EDT
