Richard Sheirer

Who is Richard Sheirer?

Richard James Sheirer was a public servant and New York City official. Sheirer served as the Director of the New York City Office of Emergency Management from February 2000 to March 2002. In 2000, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appointed Sheirer as Director of the OEM in February 2000. Sheirer was thrust into the public eye in September 2001, when, as director of the OEM during the September 11th attacks, 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, 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 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.

Sheirer had begun his career as a dispatcher for the New York City Fire Department in 1967. He was promoted to deputy commissioner under NYC Fire Commissioner Howard Safir.