Brooklyn mourns Chief Joseph Esposito, who led city’s response to 9/11, Sandy

January 17, 2024 Raanan Geberer

In this October 2011 file photo, New York Police Department chief Joseph Esposito addresses the Occupy Wall Street protesters as they arrive for a rally at Times Square. AP Photo/David Karp

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Flags on official New York City buildings were lowered to half-staff and tributes poured in after the death last week of Chief Joseph Esposito, the self-described “Italian kid from Brooklyn” who rose first to the rank of NYPD chief of department and then to the post of commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former fellow police officer, said, “Joe Esposito was not only a friend for almost 30 years, but a hero who dedicated his life and career to keeping New Yorkers safe.” After Esposito was made to leave his OEM post in a highly controversial move in 2018, Adams brought him back into public service as deputy commissioner for enforcement for the Buildings Department.

Former NYPD Commissioner Willliam Bratton tweeted, “In policing parlance, the term ‘Boss’, when used for a superior officer, is a sign of respect for a great and trusted leader. Joe Esposito was the embodiment of that term. He served his City, his department, his country, his family, and the men and women who worked with him with unbridled love and affection. He was a singular man — a man for all seasons and all crises.”

Similarly, Brooklyn City Councilmember Justin Brannan tweeted, “They don’t make public servants like Joe Esposito anymore. A huge loss for the city he loved and served for decades.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, listens as Joseph Esposito, commissioner of the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), speaks a during press conference at OEM in Downtown Brooklyn in 2015. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Esposito, who was born and grew up in Brooklyn, was reportedly suffering from cancer. Throughout his life, he continued to have strong links to the borough. His first job as a police officer was at the 77th Precinct in Crown Heights. Before being named chief of department in 2000, he had been the commanding officer of the Strategic and Tactical Command (SATCOM) of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North.

The Tablet, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, reported that Esposito was very much involved in Diocesan affairs, at one time chairing the Diocesan Review Board, and that he rarely missed a Mass at St. Athanasius church in Bensonhurst.

As chief of department for 12 years, he oversaw the city’s response to the World Trade Cener terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, as well as its response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. According to the city, he held that title longer than anyone else in the city’s history.

In 2014, after Esposito’s mandatory retirement from the Police Department, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed him commissioner of OEM, which is headquartered in Downtown Brooklyn. “Joseph Esposito has the good judgment to react and guide the city’s response during an emergency, and also has the experience of working as part of a team to marshal the resources of the city and execute strategies to save lives,” de Blasio said at the time.

Later that year, Esposito told a disaster preparedness forum at Brooklyn Borough Hall, “The main thing is, be prepared. Get your plan, know your zone, and be ready to put that plan into effect if any disaster happens.”

Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito speaks at an Emergency Preparedness Forum at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2014. Eagle file photo by Mary Frost

However, four years later, after a problematic response to a six-inch snowstorm, Esposito was let go — not by de Blasio, who was out of town, but by Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. Later, de Blasio said plans to replace Esposito, an old-school public servant who once said he rarely used his computer, had been in motion even before the snowstorm, according to The New York Times.

By all accounts, Esposito, who at first believed only the mayor could fire him, didn’t take this well. Fox 5 quoted him as saying, “I’m an Italian kid from Brooklyn—I talk with my hands, I get a little loud sometimes, and I want to apologize to her publicly. I don’t feel my conduct was 100 percent on the money on Friday. I apologize.”

Esposito was no stranger to controversy. The Times reported that in 2012, “Mr. Esposito was seen on video jabbing Occupy Wall Street protesters with his baton and yelling at them to stay on the sidewalk.”

A Brooklynite to the end, Esposito is slated to be put to rest at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.