Class of 1962: Nicholas Scoppetta

Nicholas Scoppetta ’62 (1932–2016)
Nicholas Scoppetta, who earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School while working in child welfare, devoted more than five decades to public service in New York City, serving as investigation commissioner, deputy mayor for criminal justice, the first commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, and ultimately fire commissioner. A former foster child himself, he was widely credited with reforming the city’s child welfare system in the wake of high-profile failures and later led the Fire Department under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg during a period of rebuilding and institutional change following September 11. Serving under four mayors, Scoppetta became one of the city’s most versatile and enduring public officials, bridging law enforcement, social services, and emergency management over the course of a half-century career.