Another FDNY rookie has come forward to complain he was hazed on his first day in a firehouse — and viciously bullied on many occasions afterward.
Former probationary firefighter Michael Troina, 24, was fired while his alleged tormenters at Tribeca’s Ladder 1/Engine 7 firehouse escaped punishment.
“At first I sloughed it off as ‘I’m the new guy.’ As it kept going on, it got worse,” Troina told The Post.
Troina got the ax on Dec. 21, just seven days before he would have completed probation. The FDNY insists he was canned after a “failed evaluation.”
Troina charges veteran firefighters covered his car in peanut butter, toilet paper and nails; challenged him to fight; shoved him; called him a “bitch,” “loser” and “fa—t”; put up mocking photos of him, and stomped on his bunker gear. He says he is preparing a lawsuit against the FDNY.
His accusations come just weeks after The Post exposed allegations that probie Gordon Springs, who is African American, was hazed and sexually abused on his first day by a group of naked firefighters, including one who dangled his genitals onto his face. Springs has sued Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro, a lieutenant and three firefighters.
His attorney Paul Liggieri, charges the firehouse tried to cover up the 2015 incident and that the city Department of Investigation failed to properly investigate the criminal act. After The Post reports, DOI is now seeking to interview Springs.
Troina’s lawyer, Pamela Hayes, noted similarities to the Springs case, and condemned an FDNY culture that still ignores hazing despite a purported “zero-tolerance” policy.
“If I know you’ve got my back at a fire, it’s not because I let you rub your genitals on my forehead,” she said. “Clearly, they have a problem … the brass doesn’t want to deal with it.”
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound Troina said his 13-month “prison” sentence began Nov. 7, 2015, during his welcome tour at the Duane Street firehouse. Troina brought a traditional gift– an Oreo cheese cake. His new comrades asked for his dress shirt in exchange for a house shirt. Hours later, they returned his dress shirt in a block of ice.
Things turned truly ugly last October when he didn’t take the firehouse bus to a funeral in Yonkers for FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy, who was killed Sept 27 in a Bronx house explosion. Troina said he went on his own but mistakenly missed the “final salute.” When firefighters returned to the firehouse “every guy started shoving me,” he said.
Troina entered department counseling but was warned by colleagues about complaining to the FDNY’s Equal Employment Opportunity office. “Only s–tbag guys with no class to go EEO” he said he was told.
But a lieutenant alerted EEO officials, who called Troina on Dec. 7 and told him he had a year to pursue an investigation, Troina said. Two weeks later he was fired.
FDNY spokesman Jim Long said, “The department knew nothing of any complaints from him until after he was terminated,” adding the department will “look into” the hazing allegations.
Long said Troina doctored documents to avoid overtime shifts, among other offenses.
Meanwhile, Nigro announced Monday that the department is pouring $10 million into an effort to recruit more minorities.
In light of The Post stories, Councilman Andy King (D-Bronx) called on Nigro to “fire the entire bunch” in the Springs case.
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