Their efforts seem to have paid off. Of the 42,161 applicants who took the firefighter exam this spring, 19,260 were nonwhite and 1,952 were women — both all-time highs for groups traditionally underrepresented in the department, the fire commissioner, Salvatore J. Cassano, said on Tuesday.
Of the roughly 10,000 firefighters in New York, 6 percent are Hispanic, 3 percent are black, and 1 percent are Asian, fire officials said. There are 28 female firefighters. The number of minority and female applicants who took the spring test was roughly double the number who took it in 2007, the last time the test was given.
“This is a huge step forward,” said Michele J. Maglione, assistant commissioner for recruitment. “We just opened the door to thousands of New Yorkers.
