But when the new recruits — known as probationary firefighters or probies — arrive at their assigned firehouses, many of them could face an even bigger challenge.

There is animosity and skepticism inside at least some of the city’s more than 200 fire stations. Some firefighters view the court requirements as a quota system that sacrifices safety for the sake of diversity. Tensions are high enough that the judge who ordered the reforms has been under police protection at his home, and the fire commissioner, Salvatore J. Cassano, took the extraordinary step of dispatching commanders to firehouses to make sure the new arrivals were not mistreated.

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