Nicholas Scoppetta

Nicholas Scoppetta (November 6, 1932 – March 24, 2016) was the 31st New York City Fire Commissioner. He was appointed to that position by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on January 1, 2002 and was succeeded by Salvatore Cassano on January 1, 2010.

As Fire Commissioner, Scoppetta headed a department with an annual budget of more than $1 billion and with more than 16,000 fire, emergency medical service, and civilian members. His extensive experience in government and management spanned more than four decades. The Fire Department of New York encompasses fire services and emergency medical services.

Scoppetta was also Commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, where he served from 1996 through 2001. His six-year tenure was three times the average tenure of Child Welfare Administrators in New York City. During his tenure, ACS engaged in a comprehensive reform of the city’s child welfare system which won praise from national child welfare experts and the media.

In addition, Scoppetta was a Deputy Mayor and Commissioner of Investigation for the City of New York, an Associate Counsel to the Knapp Commission, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, an Assistant District Attorney for New York County, and a Deputy Independent Counsel in the investigation and prosecution of a former Special Assistant to the President of the United States.

After a two-year battle with cancer, Scoppetta died on March 24, 2016, at a hospice of Bellevue Hospital next door to the N.Y.C. Nicholas Scoppetta Children's Center, named in his honor in 2013.

Scoppetta was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1932. He was the youngest son of Italian immigrants, who struggled to get by during the Great Depression.

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