FDNY boss Michele Maglione resigns after furor over ‘racist’ cotton-ball game at NYC school

A high-ranking FDNY official resigned under fire after bizarrely leading a group of mostly black students at a Brooklyn high school in a “cotton-ball relay race” that some critics called racist, The Post has learned.

FDNY Assistant Commissioner Michele Maglione, 57, head of the department’s Youth Workforce Development, saw her nearly 20-year career flame out after engaging some 35 kids in the game on Aug. 21 during a summer “leadership academy” at the FDNY-Capt. Vernon A. Richard High School for Fire and Life Safety.

The goofy game — historically popular at summer camps — involved teams of players with petroleum jelly smeared on their faces picking up cotton balls with their heads, hands tied behind their backs, to see who could carry the most balls across the classroom. It was billed as a “team-building exercise.”

Maglione, who is white, posted video of the antics on social media, which showed some grinning students were clearly enjoying the game.

But FDNY recruiters who saw the video were not laughing. They complained to FDNY brass that they found the exercise offensive, citing the history of slavery and cotton-picking.

Maglione, who collected nearly $190,000 in city salary last year, was removed from the school and demoted. She then chose to retire rather than face disciplinary charges, officials said.

“Once the Department became aware of the incident and social media post, we immediately modified her duty status and launched an investigation,” an FDNY spokeswoman said. “Based on this investigation, this individual was permanently removed from her position.” 

An agency insider called the situation a sad end to Maglione’s service to FDNY.

“It was poor judgment,” an agency source said. “I’ve known Michele for a long time. She’s a lovely person. She cares about those kids. It was an error in judgment, not an intentional act.”

However, Cara McCammon, 24, who attended FDNY’s EMS Youth Academy at Fort Totten in 2023, claimed Maglione, who oversaw the six-month program for 17- to 28-year-olds aspiring to become city EMTs, once told the mostly black and Hispanic students, “You don’t belong here” and called them “idiots.”

When McCammon criticized Maglione on Instagram for creating a “hostile environment,” she was booted from the program a week before final exams, she told The Post. The FDNY did not respond to the allegations.

“It’s unfortunate that it took her using such an inappropriate event to reveal her true character to the world, but I’m glad that the truth is finally coming out,” McCammon said, claiming the traumatic experience prevented her from pursuing an EMS career. She now works with autistic children.

“This game was very degrading — tying their hands behind their backs, the Vaseline, the cotton. There are so many other games that could have been played. Why this one?”

Maglione declined to comment at her Dyker Heights home this week.

Mayor Eric Adams called the game “terrible,” saying, “one should know the significance of picking cotton and putting it on their face.”

“I found it offensive, and many people who reached out to me found it offensive,” he told PIX-11, which first reported the controversy.

NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos also ripped the incident. “This kind of behavior is insensitive and in no way aligned with our values, and we are grateful to the FDNY for taking swift action to address it,” she told the station. “We will always do everything to ensure our students are respected and supported.”