A last-minute delay in an FDNY exam meant Skylar Mercado had turned 29 by the time he could apply. The Bronx-raised son of a firefighter who died on September 11, 2001, is suing New York City, arguing its age cutoff cost him the chance to follow his father into the department.
A Delay That Changed Everything
The New York Daily News reports that a last-minute delay to the FDNY's next open competitive firefighter exam affected Mercado's eligibility.
Mercado had turned 29 by the time he could apply, the Daily News reports. The age cutoff meant he was ineligible.
The Rule Behind the Rejection
The dispute centers on the FDNY's age-29 cutoff. In 2011, the city temporarily raised the cutoff to 35 after a federal court-ordered hiring freeze left applicants from the 2007 test aging past 29, as CBS New York reported at the time.
Invoking a New Constitutional Shield
Mercado's lawsuit alleges that the FDNY's age restriction violates New York's constitution, per the Daily News. New York's constitution was amended in November 2024 to include age protections through the state's Equal Rights Amendment, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in Miller v. State of New York, a challenge to the state's mandatory judicial retirement age of 70, arguing that the ERA creates enforceable protections against government age limits.
A Father's Legacy, Still Unresolved
Skylar Mercado's father, an FDNY firefighter, died in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Neither the FDNY nor the New York City Law Department commented on the lawsuit, the Daily News reports.
