A 36-year-old former firefighter named Derek Floyd’s experience painfully highlights the personal expenses concealed behind budgetary choices. Just four months after the FDNY laid him off as part of its attempt to reallocate cash to meet its growing immigration problem, Floyd passed away from a heart attack. Along with their grief, his family was left in dire financial straits by his passing.
Derek Floyd had three Middle Eastern tours under his belt as a Marine, and he had applied that same commitment to the FDNY. Floyd was moved to a desk job in the fire department chaplain’s office, where he planned funerals for fallen firefighters, after a heart attack in 2019 made it impossible for him to participate in active duty. Though less dangerous, his work was no less important to the firefighting community.
Budget cuts were announced in late 2022 across a number of departments, including the FDNY, as New York dealt with an enormous flood of immigrants needing substantial city resources. Few weeks before Christmas, Floyd and around ten other long-term duty employees were fired. This move not only cost him his job but also prevented him from almost fully vesting vital medical and death benefits that would have cost his family over $600,000.
The abrupt trade-offs cities sometimes make under financial hardship have been brought to light by the timing of these layoffs. The loss of Floyd’s longtime profession had a profound effect on his health, according to Christine, 34, his widow, who has been open about the effects of the firing on her husband’s mental and emotional state. “You could see him processing it all the time, but he wasn’t really angry,” she said. Following his dismissal, Floyd found work with a veteran-serving group, but the pay and benefits were far below those of the FDNY, which had a significant negative impact on his family’s quality of life.
Derek’s second deadly heart attack in April added to the financial and emotional pressure by depriving his young family of a father and spouse. Christine’s own growing debts now show the profound effects of governmental choices on people’s lives.
The FDNY suffered a $74 million budget decrease as part of a larger austerity plan that also included projected reductions to the NYPD and the Department of Education. Even if later budget adjustments have restored some of these monies, the damage to impacted families like Floyd’s is permanent.
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The account by Derek Floyd serves as a sobering reminder of the human costs of budget cuts and fiscal policies. It begs important issues of how cities reconcile the need for financial adjustments with the obligation to safeguard and support public employees who jeopardize their lives and well-being in the interest of the community.