Former FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, who took over the nation's largest fire department in the wakes of the Sept. 11 attacks, died Thursday at 83 after a battle with cancer.
The FDNY announced that Scoppetta died on Facebook and Twitter Thursday afternoon. He was appointed the 31st commissioner of the fire department in January of 2002 by then Mayor Michael Bloomberg and served in that role, overseeing the 16,000m-member department until he retired on Jan. 1, 2010.
“As Fire Commissioner, Nicholas Scoppetta was instrumental to rebuilding the FDNY during a time of unimaginable loss and devastation," current Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "The department is stronger today thanks to his leadership in the years following September 11th. He was truly a public servant without peer, and we deeply mourn his loss."
It wasn't immediately clear how Scoppetta died.
Scoppetta was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side and lived in the city's foster system from age 5 to 12, according to the FDNY.
After graduating from law school he was appointed an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, and he also practiced law as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Justice Department.
He later served as a deputy mayor for the city, the Commissioner for Investigation for the city and was the head of the Administration for Children's Services under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
