UPDATE, 2/6/24: I spoke with an FDNY FOIL officer via phone today. She checked on the status of my 11-month-old request and another request that is a month overdue. “We have a new director for our unit,” she said, “and I just let her know that your request is outstanding for a period of time and I gave her this information so that she can start having it processed.” The officer also mentioned being short-staffed. While neither of those reasons is a good excuse for the delays or failures to respond to my email inquiries for updates, I appreciated the staffer’s professionalism during our conversation.