Richard James Sheirer (October 12, 1946 – January 19, 2012) was a public servant and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

official. Sheirer served as the Director of the

New York City Office of Emergency Management New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) (formerly the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM)) was originally formed in 1996 as part of the Mayor's Office under Rudolph W. Giuliani. By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an ...

(O.E.M.) from February 2000 to March 2002.

Life

Sheirer was born in Brooklyn on October 12, 1946, and raised in the borough's Canarsie, Williamsburg and Flatbush neighborhoods. He graduated from St. Francis College in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

. Sheirer had begun his career as a

dispatcher A dispatcher is a communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. A number of organizations, including police and fire departments, emergency medical ...

for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in 1967. He was promoted to deputy commissioner under NYC Fire Commissioner Howard Safir. Safir, who became the

New York City Police Commissioner The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsib ...

in 1996, named Sheirer as his deputy commissioner for

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

and chief of staff. In February 2000, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appointed Sheirer as Director of the OEM (Giuliani had created the department in 1996). Sheirer was thrust into the public eye in September 2001, when, as director of the OEM during the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, he became responsible for New York City's rescue and recovery effort. Sheirer coordinated the rescue and clean-up efforts at the former

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

, involving numerous federal, state, and local emergency agencies. He stepped down as Director of the OEM in March 2002 when Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office. Sheirer died at

Beth Israel Medical Center Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, an ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on January 19, 2012, from a heart attack he suffered in Staten Island. He was survived by his wife, Barbara Winston, and their five sons: Matthew, Joseph, Christopher, Andrew and Paul. On November 17, 2012 the City of New York renamed the segment of Laconia Avenue near Atlantic Avenue in

Dongan Hills, Staten Island Dongan Hills is a neighborhood located within the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is on the Island's East Shore. Dongan Hills is bounded by Laconia Avenue on the southeast, Jefferson Avenue on the southwest, Richmond Road on the nort ...

where Sheirer had resided to ''Commissioner Richard J. Sheirer Way''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheirer, Richard 1946 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American Jews New York City public officials People associated with the September 11 attacks New York City Fire Department St. Francis College alumni People from Canarsie, Brooklyn People from Staten Island People from Flatbush, Brooklyn New York City Emergency Management People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn 21st-century American Jews