After facing weeks of backlash for demoting some of the FDNY's top brass, Commissioner Laura Kavanagh addressed the changes Tuesday, saying she needs to have her own team.

"I think sometimes people forget I am new because I was at the department for almost a decade, but I am just a few months into my tenure, and I want to have my own team," she said during an appearance on "Mornings On 1."

She added that while the shakeup may have been shocking, it had precedent in the department's history.

"Every commissioner has changed their team over, so it's been a while. Commissioner [Daniel] Nigro was there for almost eight years, so I think maybe that's why it seems new, but it's really not," she said.

Three of the department's top brass were demoted in February, and two other officials asked to resign in solidarity, prompting calls for Kavanagh's ouster. She was also met with boos at the FDNY Promotions ceremony last month.

However, the fire commissioner said she intends to move forward with the team she's created.

"There's just no way, as a new leader, to get everything that we need as the largest fire department in the country done without having your own team," Kavanagh said. "So I think that it's not easy to make tough decisions, but I think they are necessary when you come into leadership."

In the wide-ranging interview, Kavanagh also touched on the FDNY's efforts to expand diversity and combat fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, and explained how the city is working to improve fire truck mobility.