Hundreds Retake FDNY Entrance Exam After Old Test Rejected By Critics
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Firefighter hopefuls are getting a second chance to join New York's Bravest.
Several hundred recruits lined up at testing centers around the city Friday to retake the FDNY entrance exam.
They include some of the hundreds of black and Latino candidates previously denied a job in 1999 and 2002.
After a four-year legal battle with the city, a judge ruled that the old version of the exam discriminated against minority candidates.
The city has since revamped the test and it's been approved by critics of the original.
Candidates who were invited back to take the exam say they're making the most of their second chance.
"Nowadays it's hard to find a decent job in the city, and we have family, and to get a job in the city's harder, and this is another opportunity that come to us," one applicant said.
"If it gives everyone equal opportunity to get a second chance to take the test at an equal footing that everyone did, then it's definitely a good thing they did for us," another applicant said.
The FDNY says all those allowed to retake the test were already strong candidates.