A Billion Dollars Just Isn't Enough

After years of haggling and arguing to toss the lawsuit of 9,000 9/11 workers who have been injured as a result of their heroism after the Towers fell, the city is looking to negotiate a deal. NYC is talking about doling out a billion dollars. It sounds like a lot, but when you divide it by 9,000, you only get $111,111 per person and that is supposed to cover the medical costs for their lifetimes. That also excludes what death benefits would be given to the families that have lost roughly 150 people to the resulting diseases borne out of that toxic air. So what's chief lawyer Marc Bern to do?

From The Daily News:

Bern's clients have until the end of the month to decide whether to give him permission to begin settlement talks for them. Those who don't can continue their own litigation, but there's a good chance that Bern's firm won't handle their case.

"If we receive an aggregate settlement offer from the defendants, it will be up to you and our other clients to accept or reject the offer and, if you accept it, to agree on how the [money] would be divided," Bern wrote. "The defendants would have nothing to do with that decision."

It is a sad day when I have to agree with Bern's logic. He is fighting for justice for these people and because of the system, real monetary damages would take years or decades. The victims need some form of restitution now. Medical bills for lung diseases are expensive and a hundred thousand dollars or more would help, at least in the short term.

Ideally the federal government would have helped out more with these victims and their families, but you have to remember who is in charge at the moment down there in D.C.

Deconstructing The Deutsche Bank Again

The EPA and the LMDC came to an agreement yesterday on how to temporarily proceed with plans to demolish the rest of the Deutsche Bank building on 130 Liberty. More than six years after it was damaged by the 9/11 attacks, it still stands there with what looks like giant fishnets on its sides. The EPA publicly condemned the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. for its lack of safety and concern for those that work and live in the downtown area. The lapses in safety ultimately led to two firefighters losing their lives last month when a fire broke out in the hulking abandoned mess of a building.

There have been a lot of financial problems that contributed to the problems at 130 Liberty St. Insurance money did not come in at first, the federal government under George Bush did next to nothing and still to this day does not adequately fund New York City for what happened in 2001.

Avi Schick is now the head of the LMDC which was charged with taking down the Bank building earlier this year after Spitzer was inaugurated. To his credit, he has only been there a few months despite the fire occurring during his watch. Still, that building should have been inspected up and down. Since it wasn't, debris in the stairwells and a non-existent water system indirectly killed two brave souls of the FDNY.

The criminal investigation is still in its preliminary stages, but that does not mean we should just slowly forget about it and let them publish a slap on the wrist in a Friday news dump sometime next year. Someone is going to be held accountable for their (in)actions whether they like it or not.

While We Remember....Remember The Deutsche Bank Building

I couldn't help myself this morning, I turned on the TV where I was at and saw the memorial service. It was on every channel so when I tried to change it...it kept going. Hearing the names is tear-jerking, especially when the reader would finish their turn by remembering their friend, cousin, brother, etc. I tried MSNBC but was simultaneously hit twice in the face by the images of the burning towers and Katie Couric's voice. Thankfully I found Comedy Central after an hour for the "lighter" news about Bush's visit to Anbar.

Anyways, while watching the memorial, every once in a while the camera would pan out to show the fish-net covered Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street. Six years later it still stands there, partially removed yet towering over the site as a powerful reminder.

Of course the demolition is now stopped again due to the horrific fire that killed two more of New York's Finest a few weeks ago. Apparently the agency running the site did not care enough to make sure there were any safety measures employed which led to there being no water for the firefighters that perished last month.

Now city, state and federal officials are treating the situation with kid gloves, trying to look like they are doing the right thing. Though things aren't off to the best start since federal authorities are slamming the state of New York for not doing enough even now to combat air quality problems.

I understand that the development corporations want to get everything done and finished so the new towers under way will look nice and pretty. But I really don't care. Safety comes first, no ifs ands or buts. After everything that has gone down in the last six years when it comes to air quality, the people who live and work in Lower Manhattan deserve better. What needs to be done now should have been taken care of five years ago, but it still needs to be done.

9/11 Air: The Guility Attack The Guilty

Ex- E.P.A. Director Christie Todd Whitman is about to testify to Congress tomorrow about how she mishandled the situation after the towers collapsed. But first she gave an interview to WNBC to do what almost all Republicans do before having to testify, blaming someone else. To her credit, she is aiming high, going after Presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani. But of course, the truth lies in the middle, both of them are to blame for masking the quality of the air.

From The Daily News:

In an interview scheduled to run the day before Whitman testifies in front of Congress on Monday, she told WNBC-TV she warned the city of the risks almost every day.

And she said she believes illnesses killing first responders can be blamed on the city's lack of action.

"I'm not a scientist ... but I do [believe that]," she told WNBC's Brian Thompson.

Whitman specializes in political shillery (as do most good Bush appointees), definitely not having to do with anything scientific. She did run the E.P.A. and that certainly does not require any knowledge about science, right? Of course, she was aware that something bad was going on, two massive buildings collapsing into rubble would obviously have an adverse affect on the air quality. But for her to avoid all the blame is ludicrous. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is getting ready to question her tomorrow and he already knows she has difficulty telling the truth. Perhaps he can ban the phrase "I don't recall" before the testimony begins.

9/11 Claims More Victims

The death toll was recently upped by one after officials determined that Felicia Dunn-Jones died as the result of the collapse of the World Trade Towers. She had been consumed by the smoke and debris that poured through the streets of Manhattan. Physically she came out of that fateful day but the damage done was internal. A few months later she died of sarcoidosis, which inflammed the heart muscle due to damaged lungs. So what does this case mean? A whole lot.

From The New York Times:

By making a formal connection between Mrs. Dunn-Jones’s death and her relatively brief exposure to the dust, the medical examiner’s decision could have a wide impact on how the city deals with the growing number of illnesses and deaths linked in some way to ground zero.

The city is already under pressure to re-examine the deaths of people like James Zadroga, 34, a New York police detective who worked at the debris pile in the months after the towers fell. Although a New Jersey pathologist who conducted an autopsy last year concluded that Detective Zadroga’s death was linked to trade center dust, city officials have not accepted that finding.

“The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.

I am proud to say that Carolyn Maloney is my Congresswoman. She is speaking truth that the city still refuses to accept. Many more than Dunn-Jones and Zadroga succumbed to the effects of the dust. There are countless more that are sick and possibly dying. Meanwhile the city and especially then EPA chief Christine Whitman want to deny the reality. By doing that they can escape blame for not adequately protecting the rescue workers from the toxic air.

New York City and the entire nation deserves more than this. It is time for the various responsible factions of our government stand up and take responsibility for their negligence. And if they try to avoid it, they will be pulled into the glare of the spotlight so everyone can see their callous disregard for the brave men and women that helped rescue survivors and begin to repair Lower Manhattan.