By Shaina McLawrence
Staten Island Advance
NEW YORK — A former FDNY commissioner from Staten Island is calling on state leaders to prevent autonomous vehicles from operating in New York, citing a series of incidents across the country where driverless cars have interfered with emergency responders.
In an op-ed that appeared in the New York Daily News, Salvatore Cassano of Huguenot urged Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature to prevent driverless vehicles from operating in New York.
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“From my vantage point as the former New York City fire commissioner, I am terrified of the chaotic public safety disaster that awaits when driverless AI robocars flood our streets with little to no way to control them,” Cassano said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warned autonomous vehicle developers in July about “a clear pattern” of driverless cars interfering with police officers, firefighters and other first responders, Cassano noted. The federal agency urged companies to address the problem immediately following a growing series of incidents.
The former commissioner emphasized that emergency scenes require real-time decisions often communicated through eye contact, hand signals and instinct built from experience. He argued that New York presents unique challenges with narrower streets, denser traffic and more complex emergency scenes than almost anywhere else in the country.
A career in service
Cassano spent more than 44 years with the FDNY, rising through every uniformed rank after joining the department as a firefighter in 1969, according to a 2014 Advance/SILive.com article.
He played a key role in rebuilding the FDNY after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, serving as chief of operations and later as chief of department, the agency’s highest uniformed position.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him as New York City’s 32nd fire commissioner in 2010, a role he held until 2014.
During his tenure, he oversaw major firefighter hiring, training and modernization efforts while helping drive fire fatalities to historic lows.
Currently, Cassano serves as a senior advisor and consultant on fire safety, emergency response and 9/11-related issues, and remains active with organizations including the FDNY Foundation and Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
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