New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended the firing of a member of his city’s fire department who died shortly after and whose family is now struggling financially.
The firefighter was one of 10 who were let go, so that the city could shrink the FDNY’s budget in order to allocate more funds to illegal immigrants who have descended on the city.
When commenting on the death of 36-year-old Derek Floyd — who was let go just before his $600,000 life instance policy kicked in last December — Adams concluded, “That’s just life,” the New York Post reported.
Floyd died on April 15 just four months after he was let go as part of the city’s cuts to the FDNY.
Floyd was not an active-duty firefighter due to a heart issue that arose when he was going through the department’s academy in 2019.
While he was ineligible to serve in the field, Floyd was working in the FDNY’s chaplain’s office when he learned he had lost his job just before Christmas.
On April 15, he died from a heart attack.
Floyd was a retired U.S. Marine who left behind a wife and two children.
NYC firefighter dies of heart attack after being fired to pay for migrants — leaving his family with nothing https://t.co/yplOo0Csp9 pic.twitter.com/Snv1TRXECx
— New York Post (@nypost) April 28, 2024
Should migrants be prioritized over firefighters?
Floyd’s widow, Christine Floyd, told the Post her husband was a positive person who found another job after his termination.
But she said, the life insurance Floyd would have soon been eligible had her husband not been axed so the city could provide for immigrants would have helped the family financially. “Right now, it’s really bad. I’m honestly swimming in a lot of debt,” she said.
Adams was asked about the situation during a news conference on Tuesday.
A reporter noted the dynamics of the situation and asked the mayor, “Wouldn’t this have just been easier to keep [Floyd] on the FDNY at that point?”
Adams replied that he believed the situation to have been “tragic,” but he stood firm on the city’s decision to let Floyd go.
“He was never qualified to be a firefighter because he didn’t get through the academy because of his heart condition,” Adams said, according to a transcript of the conference. “We can’t just say, ‘Okay, you were brought on to be a firefighter. If you don’t qualify, we’re just going to hold you on a payroll anyway.’”
Adams added, “Can’t do that. Just can’t. That is not how you use taxpayers’ dollars.”
The mayor also said that he felt sympathy for Floyd’s family and had been in contact with them.
But as far as Floyd losing his job so the city could have more public funds for immigrants, Adams essentially washed his hands of the situation.
“No matter when you determine something, anything can happen during that determination,” he said. “That’s how life is. You could determine something on Monday, and something could happen on Tuesday.”
Adams continued: “That’s just life. His medical condition did not allow him to become a firefighter. It’s so unfortunate because he appeared to have been a great young man that would’ve been great to the FDNY, but that was the reality of what we were facing.”
Adams concluded the city would provide for Floyd’s family “as much as possible.”
A GoFundMe campaign launched by the New York Firefighters Foundation for Floyd’s family ripped city leaders for prioritizing immigrants over Americans such as Floyd and his family.
“Unfortunately, Derek was let down by the leaders of New York City as he was laid off just weeks before Christmas to pay for NYC’s ongoing migrant situation,” the foundation said. “He then suffered a fatal heart attack earlier this month — an absolutely devastating situation.”
The foundation added that had Floyd’s employment “continued with the FDNY, he would have been entitled to death benefits” and noted his family is now “left with nothing.”
