USG Settles Asbestos Lawsuits, Swings to a $1.78 Billion Loss, by Ilan Brat, Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2006
http://online.wsj.com/search/services_results.html
CHICAGO -- USG Corp., the giant maker of building materials, said it will spend as much as $3.95 billion to settle asbestos-related lawsuits, a move it expects to help it emerge from bankruptcy-law proceedings in July.The company said it would create and fund a trust for personal-injury claims with $900 million in cash and a contingent note for an additional $3.05 billion. But if Congress passes legislation creating a national asbestos-personal-injury trust fund, then the contingent note would be canceled.
The legislation, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005, would create a $140 billion trust fund to pay asbestos victims. The legislation would require insurance and reinsurance companies to contribute $46 billion to the fund, while companies facing asbestos liability would cover the bulk of the fund's cost.
As part of the settlement plan, USG said it will fully repay debtholders and trade suppliers with interest. Shareholders will receive rights to acquire one additional share for $40 for each share held. In 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, USG shares rose $15.93 to $95.78, setting a 52-week high.
Though shareholders were pleased, consumer group Public Citizen said in a news release that the agreement "shows how the creation of a federal asbestos-compensation fund is really a backdoor attempt to erase billions of dollars in corporate liability for asbestos exposure."
Heavy costs associated with asbestos lawsuits led the company to file for bankruptcy protection in 2001. Asbestos, once prized for its fire-retardant and insulating qualities, has spawned more lawsuits than any other product in the history of personal-injury litigation.
Financing for the USG plan is expected to come from USG's cash on hand, a $1.8 billion rights offering to existing stockholders supported by Warren Buffett's investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway Inc., tax refunds and new long-term debt.
USG officials said the asbestos agreement would be included in a plan of reorganization and disclosure statement they expect to file with bankruptcy court next month.
The company also reported that its fourth-quarter results swung to a loss of $1.78 billion, including an after-tax charge of $1.9 billion related to the litigation settlement, from earnings of $85 million, or $1.97 a share, a year earlier. Sales for the quarter rose to $1.34 billion from $1.17 billion.
Write to Ilan Brat at ilan.brat@wsj.com1
Copyright © 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Sen. Clinton seeks help for ground zero workers in asbestos bill, by Devlin Barrett, Associated Press, January 31, 2006
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--sept11health0131jan31,0,2463,print.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she will bring the debate over Sept. 11 ground zero worker health to the floor of the U.S. Senate in coming days, seeking help for first responders through a troubled asbestos litigation bill.
Clinton, D-N.Y., said she will try to add an amendment to a much-debated asbestos measure that would make Sept. 11, 2001, first responders, workers and nearby residents eligible to apply for aid under a newly created Federal Asbestos Compensation Fund.
As much as 2,000 tons of asbestos may have been tossed into the air in lower Manhattan when the 110-story World Trade Center towers collapsed, according to some estimates.
Ground zero health advocates have long argued that the full scope of illnesses from toxic debris and dust will take years to fully develop, even though doctors caution it will be very difficult to prove the hazards caused specific deaths.
"These first responders, workers and residents should be allowed to seek compensation for their asbestos injuries," Clinton said in a statement, adding they would not be eligible under the current version of the bill, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act.
The bill, expected to be taken up in the Senate within days, already has plenty of problems, without additional fights over ground zero health problems. It would halt lawsuits over asbestos worker claims that the Bush administration estimates have cost businesses $80 billion.
One senator, John Cornyn, R-Texas, recently suggested it will take "a miracle" to get it passed.
The bill would establish a $140 billion trust fund with contributions from corporate defendants and their insurers. Courts would be barred from hearing new lawsuits from asbestos victims.
A coalition of companies and unions has campaigned against the measure, saying the fund isn't big enough. Democrats and several Republican senators also worry that taxpayers might be left holding the bill.
Asbestos is a fibrous mineral commonly used until the mid-1970s in insulation and fireproofing material, including in the World Trade Center. It has tiny fibers that can cause cancer and other ailments when inhaled, but the diseases often take decades to develop.
According to a 2003 study by the Rand Institute for Civil Justice, more than 60 companies have sought bankruptcy protection because of more than 600,000 asbestos claims now in courts. That number is expected to grow.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-31-2006/news/story/387152p-328525c.html
President Bush won't be the only one making political points about 9/11 at tonight's State of the Union speech.At least two New Yorkers invited to the address by state lawmakers will be there to illustrate their own, very different points.
"Let's see if we get some truth," said Monica Gabrielle, who lost her husband on Sept. 11, 2001, and will listen to Bush with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Bush, who has made his response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks a cornerstone of his administration, has featured New Yorkers prominently in the address every year since.
Gabrielle said she wants to hear Bush before she takes a stand on his speech.
Clinton's spokesman said the senator invited Gabrielle to recognize her push for security improvements and for more information about the attacks - but also to remind the President of challenges that still face New York.
Marvin Bethea, a paramedic sickened by his 9/11 exposure who is coming with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), has a message for Bush and the rest of the federal government.
"I want every member of Congress to look at me and remember me when they go to bed at night," said Bethea, who takes 14 medications and has formed a foundation to help other 9/11 responders who have lost or had to fight for health care.
Maloney sent Bush a letter yesterday asking him to appoint a health czar to make sure people like Bethea don't slip through the cracks.
All contents © 2005 Daily News, L.P.
Feds Urged To Tap 'Czar' To Eye 9/11 Health; Cite 23 Deaths, Call Broader Screening, Treatment Key, by Ginger Adams Otis, The Chief Leader, January 31, 2006
http://www.thechief-leader.com/news/2006/0203/News/005.html
'URGENT NEED': U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella led a bipartisan push for a Federal '9/11 Health Czar' to coordinate and monitor medical programs for first responders, workers, volunteers, residents and others exposed to debris and dust on Sept. 11, 2001 and during the subsequent recovery efforts.Must Improve Tracking
Congresswoman Maloney cited the recent deaths of three city workers who fell sick with illnesses believed to be 9/11-related as proof of the "urgent need" for improved tracking and treatment of first responders, volunteers and other workers.
Seventeen legislators - including Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer - signed a letter to Michael Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, urging him to appoint a health professional to better coordinate the Federal Government's attempts to get aid to the estimated 40,000 people who responded on 9/11 or aided in the clean-up and restoration operations, and for area residents and workers who have suffered daily exposures for the past 4-1/2 years.
'Persistent Problems'
Dr. Jacqueline Moline, an industrial physician who spearheads the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Monitoring program, said at a Jan. 25 press conference held by Representatives Maloney and Fossella that some 16,000 people had come forward to be screened.
"More than half of them have persistent problems with their sinuses and throats. They have GERD [acid reflux] and breathing difficulties," she said. "And we've only seen a fraction of the thousands who have been exposed."
Ms. Moline said Mount Sinai has gotten Federal funding to continue its monitoring and screening programs through 2009 - but that the programs ideally need to continue for another 15 to 20 years.
Feds Skimp on Treatment
The Federal Government has yet to contribute toward treatment programs, she added, noting that Mount Sinai was able to treat some ill 9/11 responders only because the Red Cross and private philanthropists donated money.
"The Red Cross gave us $20 million and that will cover us for the next two years," Dr. Moline said. "After that, we don't know."
She is hopeful that some of the $125 million in 9/11 aid that President Bush initially cut from the Federal budget will go toward treatment programs. A bipartisan effort from lawmakers, top city officials and labor leaders successfully got the money restored last month, and $75 million has been earmarked for a treatment program.
Sees Role for FDNY
Although the Fire Department has set up its own health services bureau for its members, Congressman Fossella said "there would be a need for the FDNY to come to the table" to work with the 9/11 health czar, should one be appointed. He said the goal was to get as comprehensive an oversight as possible to make sure nobody fell through the cracks.
Marvin Bethea, a Paramedic who works with the Emergency Medical Service bureau but is employed by St. Vincent's Hospital, charged that the Federal and city governments had turned their backs on the workers who responded on 9/11. Mr. Bethea is currently living on Social Security payments while trying to get a Workers' Compensation claim approved by the state.
He said prior to 9/11 he was a healthy man who took only two pills a day; now he's suffering from asthma and other breathing problems and taking approximately 14 medications daily.
City officials have not commented on the possibility that workers who toiled at Ground Zero were exposed to toxins that could prove fatal as time passes.
Claim 23 Related Deaths
The Daily News reported Jan. 25 that lawyers for thousands of injured workers have turned up at least 23 Ground Zero fatalities - many of them workers in their 30s and 40s who died from cancer and other causes.
The newspaper said their surviving family members have joined 5,200 first responders in a pending class-action suit alleging the city and its contractors didn't do enough to protect them from a toxic environment at Ground Zero.
Two EMS members - Timothy Keller and Felix Hernandez - died from diseases their families believe were linked to their time at the disaster site, and the Detectives' Endowment Association has made the same claim about the death of retired Detective James Zadroga.
The Uniformed Firefighters' Association said it knew of three firefighters who died recently of cancers the families suspected stemmed from 9/11 exposures; an FDNY official said the department was not ordering an investigation into the cause of death for those firefighters because they were not in active service when they died. Congressman Fossella said the deaths "were a clarion call" to do more for responders. "These are Americans who responded to a tragedy, and we need to help them," he said.
Copyright© 2005 The Chief Leader
All Rights Reserved
WTC Health Czar? No! Op-Ed, by Gilbert Ross, New York Post, January 31, 2006
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/62512.htm
MANY who worked at the World Trade Center site in the days after 9/11 now have ongoing medical and psychological problems as a result of their heroic service. But the latest demands for a federal strongman to oversee all health-related monitoring and treatment of the many thousands who served at Ground Zero are nothing short of political posturing, aiming to exploit rather than assist the sick and suffering victims and rescuers.
Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) and Vito Fossella (R-S.I./Brooklyn) have called for a "health czar" to assume full control of rescue workers' health concerns, asserting that there is "no one person" in the federal government in charge of this area. True enough but there are many other resources available to those injured or sickened from the WTC collapse and its aftermath (among whom is my wife, whose injuries were thankfully minor). Why do we need another layer of bureaucracy to care for these valiant survivors and rescuers?
Maloney and Fossella point to three recent deaths as a "crisis" warranting federal intervention on an urgent basis. But that's three deaths out of thousands of potential victims over the course of four-plus years which does not amount to a health crisis. Did those unfortunate folks have other health issues that accelerated their decline, such as smoking? We don't know.
Numerous programs are in place to help monitor, diagnose and treat those who sustained injuries and lung ailments while working Downtown in the aftermath of 9/11. Some are government sponsored, some philanthropic; many are both. For instance, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, working with the city Health Department, has established the World Trade Center Health Registry which has more than 71,000 people registered, and refers those who need help to the appropriate agency or clinic.
One such clinic is run by the Mt. Sinai Hospital and Medical Center. Their WTC Medical Monitoring Program evaluates all comers with Ground Zero-related ailments, and refers those who need treatment to various clinics. Those who lack health insurance get free treatment.
This doesn't seem like anyone in need of help is being abandoned.
Politicians looking for a sound bite should pay more heed to the effects such alarms have on the public, as well as on those who need help coping with the effects of 9/11. Some sick WTC workers may get the message from such press briefings that they have no recourse, which is not only false, but will lead them to grow even more desperate and anxious.
The only ones who might benefit from such tirades are the lawyers still looking to sue anyone they can target who had anything to do with the site, including the owner, the city and a dozen other stakeholders. Accusations of federal neglect will only encourage these class-action ghouls, who had the good taste to file their suit on the third anniversary of 9/11.
Maloney herself was instrumental in getting another $125 million freed up to continue federal support for monitoring and treatment of rescue workers who need further medical evaluations and treatments over the course of the next several years. She should stick to helpful efforts, and forget about political pandering.
Dr. Gilbert Ross is executive and medical director at The American Council on Science and Health.
Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Heroes Of 9/11 Are Getting Sick, by Joshua Brustein, Gotham Gazette, January 30, 2006
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/health/20060130/9/1742
Detective James Zadroga was inside 7 World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. He escaped –- barely –- when the building collapsed. But Zadroga could not escape the damage done to his body by the hundreds of hours he spent at Ground Zero cleaning up the rubble in the following weeks. On January 5 of this year, Zadroga died from lung disease and mercury poisoning – a condition that hasn't been a widespread occupational hazard for over a century when hatters were sickened as they dyed beaver pelts.Working at Ground Zero seems to have been even more dangerous than initially suspected, say health researchers. At least two Ground Zero rescue workers besides Zadroga –- and maybe more than twenty -– have died from illnesses that seem to be related to working on "the pile" (rescue workers' nickname for the rubble of the twin towers). But James Zadroga's death in particular has redirected attention to a problem that, experts say, will likely continue for decades.
Efforts to confront the health effects of 9/11 have not progressed quickly. Federal attempts to determine how far dangerous chemicals spread have sputtered along, enraging many local residents and environmental activists, who suspect that the towers' collapse spread contaminants across lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. A registry set up to collect data on health trends covered a more limited area, and there is currently no way of knowing how many people are sick with 9/11-related illnesses.
The approximately 40,000 rescue workers are probably the one group at greatest risk, because those who worked on the site were directly exposed to these chemicals at very close range for long periods of time. Zadroga spent 470 hours at Ground Zero. But as they get sick and even die, public officials have had little success tracking their health, much less treating them.
This month, the New York congressional delegation called on the federal government to appoint a 9/11 health czar, whose first responsibility would be to find a way to track and confront the health problems rescue workers are facing. Until that happens, private screening and treatment programs are struggling to do what they can.
MONITORING AND TREATING PROBLEMSVincent Forras, a volunteer firefighter from Westchester County, was dispatched to Ground Zero immediately after the attack. He ended up working on the site for three weeks, spent two hours buried alive in the rubble of the South Tower, and later received the Ground Zero Service Medal.
Rescue workers had difficulty breathing soon after arriving at Ground Zero, said Forras. So, he said, "they juiced us up with all kinds of Albuterol and various medications to keep us breathing." This allowed rescue workers to continue working on the pile, where they filled their lungs with lead, mercury, asbestos, and pulverized cement and glass.
When Forras breathes now, he feels like he is "drowning in air."
He lists his other problems: He has "World Trade Center Cough", a symptom of Reactive Airway Dysfunction Syndrome. He is producing too much phlegm, has massive headaches, sinus problems, and symptoms of heart disease. More than four years after 9/11, his wife is still picking pieces of glass out of his skin.
Forras had his problems diagnosed at Mt. Sinai's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, run through its Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This program has screened the health of 16,000 men and women who worked on the pile, and is the largest effort to monitor the health of rescue workers at Ground Zero. The screening program is federally funded, and is open to anyone who worked at Ground Zero, whether they show symptoms or not, with a few exceptions: New York City firefighters – who have their own monitoring program – are ineligible, as are federal workers. Federal workers currently have no options for screening or treatment.
About half of the people that have come to Mt. Sinai for diagnosis have respiratory diseases, sinus or throat problems, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Robin Herbert, who is the director of both the screening and treatment programs, continues to be taken aback by the severity of the medical problems like those afflicting Forras. She also feels overwhelmed by the problems involved with getting treatment for those her program screens. Mt. Sinai refers people who need treatment to its own program, which is overburdened, and has managed to see only 1,800 patients. It doesn't have the resources to see any more.
Private philanthropists currently provide all the money for treatment. The Red Cross gave $20 million to fund several such programs, and the lion's share of the Mt. Sinai's program comes from this pool of money (though donations like the $100,000 it received from a church group in Ohio, or $2,000 worth of pennies raised by children in Queens also help).
Mt. Sinai estimates that 5,000 people it has diagnosed as sick are not getting necessary health care. "It's pretty consistently the case that demand has tended to exceed our capacity," said Herbert.
WHERE IS THE GOVERNMENT?
The Red Cross sees its role as a stopgap measure, operating only until a more systematic public program can be put in place. It will stop its funding next year.
But interest from government is underwhelming. In his State of the City speech this month, Mayor Michael Bloomberg mentioned major plans for Ground Zero and for health care. He did not, however, connect these two themes. New York State government has provided treatment for those who worked on the pile with access to its worker's compensation program -– even if they came from out of state -– but its resources are limited.
It is the federal government's inactivity, however, that has most angered those involved with providing health care to 9/11 rescue workers.
There were 10,000 federal employees among the rescue workers at Ground Zero. The federal government set up its own medical monitoring program for these workers, but closed it down after screening only about 400 people. Federal employees cannot seek help through other programs; instead, they must wait for this program to be restored.
If the federal government has been lackluster in screening for health problems, its treatment program is nonexistent. To date, no federal money has been dedicated to treatment for any 9/11 rescue workers.
Some lawmakers in Washington are trying to change this. In December, Congress restored $125 million for funding for 9/11-related health issues that the Bush administration had cut from the budget. New York State's workers compensation program will get $50 million, with the remaining $75 million spent on existing monitoring and treatment programs. For the first time, this money will be available to be used not only to monitor workers' health, but also to treat their problems. It is not yet clear, however, when it will reach those who need it or how it will be split among monitoring and treatment programs.
On January 25, the New York Congressional delegation sent a letter to federal Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt asking him to appoint a "9/11 health czar" (letter in pdf format). So little has happened, they argue, because there is not a single person who is directly responsible for addressing 9/11 health issues.
Representative Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella recently called a press conference at Ground Zero to push for the idea. A position should be created within the department of Health and Human Services whose work would start with the establishment of "an exhaustive medical screening, monitoring, and health care program for all responders exposed to the toxins," said Maloney, encircled by men and women in fire department jackets or hats from local ironworkers unions. One had lost half a foot; another had lost almost a third of his lung capacity.
After Maloney finished, Forras stepped forward to talk about his battles with daily treatments, and about his feeling that the care he needed wasn't out there. He fully expected to die, he said, "sooner than later."
"I can guarantee you than when we come back here next year, some of these people will not be standing here," he said of those surrounding him. "You will find shadows of people."
by Chuck Bennett, AM-NY.com, January 30, 2006
The death of a cop who collapsed while pursuing robbery suspects in Manhattan on Friday is being blamed on Ground Zero dust. The parents of Kevin Lee, 31, said their son’s work at Ground Zero after 9/11 may have ruined his health, according to yesterday’s Daily News.
Chuck Bennett: chuck.Bennett@am-ny.com
9/11 killed hero cop? by Maureen Seaberg and Jose Martinez, New York Daily News,January 29th, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/386761p-328062c.html
The cop who collapsed and died Friday while chasing a suspect had been living a dream as one of the city's Finest - but his parents fear he may have been sickened by working long hours at the World Trade Center after 9/11.
"We're very concerned because he spent a lot of time at Ground Zero," Officer Kevin Lee's father, Gilbert, said yesterday.
But Gilbert Lee said "it's a total mystery" as to what killed his seemingly healthy 31-year-old son. The family was awaiting autopsy results.
The officer, a member of an elite robbery squad, dropped dead after chasing one of three teenagers suspected of swiping a laptop computer from a Lexington Ave. shop.
Kevin Lee, a married father, had achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a city police officer a decade ago, after spending five years as an auxiliary cop on Staten Island.
"His dream was always to be a policeman," said his mother, Catherine Lee, 52. "I always told him he was so lucky to have his dream."
Relatives gathered at his parents' Staten Island home yesterday, while his young wife struggled to come to grips with the loss of her husband.
"He was my world, my everything," said Erica Lee, 28, outside the couple's Bronx home.The pair, who wed 18 months ago in Las Vegas, met through Erica's aunt, Lee's former partner on the force. They were raising his 6-year-old son.
"We had many future plans, too many to speak about," said Erica Lee, fighting back tears. "I will never, ever forget him. He will live in my heart as long as I breathe."
"He died doing what he loved," she said.
The son of Chilean and Chinese parents, Kevin Lee spoke English, Spanish and Cantonese. He graduated from Staten Island Technical High School and studied criminal justice at St. John's University's Staten Island campus before joining the NYPD.
His funeral Mass will be held next week at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
"The family was very proud of him for being the first police officer in our family," said Gilbert Lee, 58.
In 10 years as a cop, Lee rang up more than 200 arrests and numerous citations, NYPD officials said.
"He liked the action," Gilbert Lee said.
Fellow cops at the 30th Precinct in Manhattan recalled Lee as a hardworking, well-liked officer.
"When I saw his picture come up on the TV, I just stared," said Officer Anthony Wyatt, who worked with Lee for four years. "I couldn't believe it."
In addition to his job, Lee volunteered with kids at the Police Athletic League
"He got a couple of citations and he wouldn't tell us," said his mother. "When I saw all of them on his wall, he goes, 'No big deal.' "
Relatives smiled yesterday while recalling a practical joke he played on his sister's boyfriend, who had told him he wanted a Hummer for Christmas.
Lee blindfolded the boyfriend, and led him outside, handing him the keys to his car. The boyfriend then discovered a tiny toy Hummer wrapped in a ribbon.
With Jego R. Armstrongand Jonathan LemireAll contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
NYPD Officer Who Collapsed And Died Worked At WTC Site, NY1.com, January 29, 2006http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=56668#
The police officer who collapsed and died during a pursuit Friday night, reportedly spent a lot of time at the World Trade Center Site. While the cause of death is still unclear, Kevin Lee's family members told the Daily News they fear he may have gotten sick because of the long hours he worked at the site after September 11th. The Medical Examiner is working to determine the cause of death. Officer Lee collapsed while he and his partner were chasing three men on the Upper East Side wanted for stealing a laptop from a Lexington Avenue store. Early reports suggested that Lee suffered a heart attack, but the hospital did not confirm that information. Lorenzo Walter, 18, and 19-year-old Julio Marquez were arrested Friday night, Rico Banks, 19, surrendered to police Satruday. All three men face robbery charges. Police say Lee struggled with one of the men right before he collapsed. Lee, a 10-year veteran of the NYPD and a member of the department's Grand Larceny Unit, was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He lived in the Bronx and is survived by a wife and 6-year-old son. Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke with Lee's mother who told him that being an officer was something her son always wanted. "All his life, all he wanted to do was be a cop. In high school there was some kind of a program where he could study what police offers do. It's all he ever talked about. He attended John Jay College and decided what her really wanted to do is be a cop." Police officer Lee was the second officer to collapse during a pursuit this year. Earlier this month, police officer Francis Hennessey collapsed and died from a brain aneurysm while on duty. Back to NYPD cop dies, by Graham Rayman, Rocco Parascandola, and Deborah S. Morris, NY Newsday, January 28, 2006 http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/newyork/nyc-nycop284604593jan28,0,6563073,print.story?coll=nyc-nynews-print Investigators probe what caused death of officer, 31, after he struggled with robbery suspect A 31-year-old cop who always wanted to be a police officer collapsed and died Friday night after grappling with a robbery suspect on the Upper East Side, police said. Kevin Lee, a 10-year NYPD veteran from the Bronx, was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m. at Lenox Hill Hospital, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who rushed to the hospital Friday night to meet with the officer's wife, parents and sister. It was not immediately clear what caused the officer to collapse. "We just don't know whether it was an aneurysm or his heart or what it was," said Bloomberg, who added Lee was a tall, strapping guy who looked to be in great shape. "All his life he wanted to be a police officer," Bloomberg said, adding that Lee took courses in high school to become a police officer and also attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice. According to police, three suspects were being watched as they went into five different stores. When they left last store, Snappy Auctions.com at 83rd and 84th St. and Lexington at 6 p.m., three officers followed them, while another officer returned to the store to talk to a clerk, who told him that a laptop was missing. That officer radioed to the other officers, who then began to chase the suspects. As Lee grabbed one of the suspects at 86th Street and Lexington, he collapsed, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. .Later on, police captured two of the suspects, Lorenzo Walter, 18, and Julio Marquez, 19, both of Brooklyn, and charged them with grand larceny and resisting arrest. The charges could be upgraded, they said Friday night. "The charges depend on the result of the autopsy and the nature of the struggle," Kelly said. Lee, who grew up on Staten Island, had been assigned to a borough-wide larceny team for two years. Prior to the chase, he and three other officers had been in that area, at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street, to watch for suspicious behavior. "The incident underscores the tension and high pressure that officers on patrol face every minute. At any moment, danger can strike," Kelly said. Bloomberg described Lee as "an outstanding officer" and "devoted to duty" who made more than 200 arrests. In addition to his wife, Lee has a 6-year-old son. At a news conference Friday night, Bloomberg said, "They all said that this was a person who wanted to be a police officer, and he was so proud to be one of New York Finest. He relished the job every day. "It's another one of those tragedies that no one can ever explain." Earlier this month, a Brooklyn cop, Officer Francis Hennessy, 35, of the 70th Precinct, died of an aneurysm responding to a call of a man with a gun. Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc. WTC attacks claim latest victim - four years later, by Larry McShane, Associated Press, January 28, 2006 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--thelatestvictim0128jan28,0,945307,print.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey For James Zadroga, dying was as simple as breathing. The highly decorated New York police detective was heading home from work on Sept. 11, 2001, when the mind-numbing news came across his car radio: A plane had flown into the World Trade Center. He rushed back to lower Manhattan, where the twin 110-story towers had collapsed into a toxic pile of burning rubble. Zadroga spent 470 hours sifting through the smoldering ruins. Inhale, exhale. Twelve-hour shifts, nearly 40 of them. Inhale, exhale. More than 28,000 minutes, his only protection a thin paper face mask. Zadroga barely avoided death when 7 World Trade Center tumbled down around him hours after the planes hit. The escape was temporary: By the time he was finished at ground zero, Zadroga was as much a Sept. 11 victim as anyone lost in the tower stairwells _ although his suffering was time-released. His breathing became labored within weeks, his health deteriorated over months, he was on disability in just over three years. On Jan. 5, 2006, the 34-year-old Zadroga finally succumbed, betrayed by his failing body; the World Trade Center had claimed its latest fatality. Exhale, one last time. Two years earlier, his wife died of a heart ailment that family members blame on stress created by Zadroga's fatal illness and his battle with city bureaucrats over its cause. Their 4-year-old daughter, born shortly after her father finished work at ground zero, is the newest trade center orphan. In the days before Zadroga's final breath, his little girl came out of her father's bedroom and spoke to her grandfather. "I knew my daddy was really sick," Tylerann Zadroga told him. "But I didn't think he'd die this fast." Zadroga grew up in North Arlington, N.J., where his dad was chief of police in a blue-collar suburb of 15,000 residents. The youngest of two sons, he was a non-smoker and a bodybuilder with a rock-solid physique. "I used to punch him in the arm, just playing around," recalled his father, Joseph. "By the time he was 16, it started to hurt my hand." Zadroga graduated from high school, went to a local community college, and then surprised his father by entering law enforcement. The son swapped his small town for the big city: He joined the New York police in 1991, and was soon working the streets of Greenwich Village. "The apple didn't fall far from the tree," said Monsignor William Fadrowski, a family friend for nearly two decades. "Just like his father, he was a real genuine guy ... just a fine man." A 1994 New York Times article detailed his work busting beer-drinking teens as part of the city's "quality of life" crackdown, but Zadroga was destined for bigger things. The hard-working cop became a detective, earning 31 medals for excellence and seven others for meritorious duty during a decade on the job. He married wife Ronda in 2000, and they moved into their own suburban home two hours north of the city. On the morning of Sept. 11, Zadroga was working in the elite Manhattan South homicide unit _ "a pretty prestigious post," said Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association. "To be in that unit after 10 years, that's a testament to his work ethic." Zadroga was driving home after finishing an overnight tour when he heard about the airplane striking the trade center's north tower. He reversed course, heading toward the billowing smoke that marked the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil. Zadroga was soon running for his life when 7 World Trade Center collapsed as he worked nearby. He spent the next month digging through the pile of concrete and chemicals and human remains _ even as his pregnant wife stayed alone at home carrying their first child. "The first weeks were the worst," said Rev. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who met Zadroga at ground zero in the days after 9/11. "We're weren't sure what was going on. The fires were still burning." The priest remembered Zadroga as conscientious, hard-working and determined to rescue his missing brothers. Day after day, often with just two hours of fitful sleep, Zadroga worked as all hope disappeared and the staggering death toll climbed: 23 fellow NYPD members, 37 Port Authority police, 343 New York firefighters, 2,749 people in all. "Reality set in," said Jordan. "We were not going to find anybody alive." When Zadroga returned to his detective squad in October, his breathing was already impaired. When daughter Tylerann was born weeks later, his condition was worsening. By year's end, he was visiting medical specialists to find out what was wrong while constantly missing work, his father said. There were few answers. And Zadroga's failing health was creating more questions: What exactly was wrong? Was there a cure? What would his family do for money now that his overtime was gone? With Sept. 11, 2002, approaching, Zadroga was plagued by a constant cough, a sore throat and an ongoing fight with the NYPD over the cause of his sickness. His father-in-law, a Florida clergyman, asked Zadroga to write down his feelings about the past year, hoping to share them with the local congregation. "They remember the dead," Zadroga wrote of the NYPD, "but don't want to acknowledge the sick who are living. ... I can't pay my bills and work doesn't want to acknowledge that I'm sick, depressed and disgusted." Zadroga's eyesight began failing, perhaps from trade center materials embedded in his eyes, his father said. By the second anniversary, the trade center rattle in his lungs had Zadroga attached to an oxygen tank. His wife, dealing with a new baby and a chronically sick husband, fell ill with what family members insist was a stress-related heart problem. The Zadrogas moved to Florida, where they found good weather but no good news: Ronda, just 29, died there two years ago. Zadroga came back north with his daughter, moved back in with his parents. The NYPD, more than three years after 9/11, finally agreed that he was suffering from pulmonary disease related to his rescue efforts. Union head Palladino said the detective had fiberglass in his lungs, and traces of mercury on his brain. At age 33, the once-proud detective was receiving a disability pension. In the Jersey shore home where Zadroga now lived with his parents, two things were happening: Tylerann helped tend to her dying father. And her dying father helped prepare Tylerann for the inevitable. "It was hard," said Joseph Zadroga. "But she knew. She knew." James Zadroga died at his parents' home on Jan. 5. Although autopsy results were pending on the exact cause, union officials said he was the first city police officer whose death was linked to working at ground zero. The NYPD confirmed he was the only officer to die after reporting 9/11-related health problems. His father was approached repeatedly at the wake by co-workers and friends from the NYPD. The ex-police chief heard story after story, most of them new to his ears, about his son's exploits in the city. "He wasn't the type to brag," the father said of the son. There were tears of sadness, and hugs of appreciation. On the day of Zadroga's funeral, Tylerann sat on her grandfather's lap inside Queen of Peace Church in North Arlington. Nearly 500 people had filled the church to bid farewell to James Zadroga in his old hometown. Fadrowski, the police chaplain during the elder Zadroga's tenure as police chief, delivered a moving eulogy. The monsignor called the detective "a righteous person," and hailed his work as a police officer. "He clearly followed his father's example, going into a career in law enforcement," Fadrowski said later. "He fulfilled his two goals as an officer: to protect, and to serve." An NYPD color guard was in attendance, along with honor guards from three northern New Jersey counties. Zadroga's flag-draped casket was brought down the church steps by a half-dozen fellow officers, as his father and mother stood side by side. The grandparents had broken the news of her father's death to Tylerann before the Mass. Her father, they stressed, had died a hero _ and he was reunited with Ronda. Tylerann, who now lives with her grandparents, seemed to understand more than most. "She thinks her dad and mom are stars in heaven," said her grandfather, Joseph, on the day of the funeral. "And she gets mad when there are no stars out."Unions Call For Death Benefit In Post-9/11 Cases; Wary of Growing Toll Among Responders To WTC Site, by Ginger Adams Otis, The Chief Leader, January 27, 2006
http://www.thechief-leader.com/news/2006/0127/News/003.html
Leaders of the city's fire and police unions are quietly pushing to get a task force in place to oversee the implementation of the World Trade Center Disability law signed by Governor Pataki last summer. They're also anxious to get a death benefit added to the law that currently only grants presumptive disability pensions to Ground Zero workers who fall ill with any number of predetermined injuries or diseases. The legislation contains a clause allowing for changes to the law as circumstances demand, to be made by a task force comprised of city, state and union leaders. 'Protect Families, Too' Uniformed Firefighters' Association Vice President James Slevin said his union was waiting for final appointments so that the task force could be petitioned to add a death benefit. "We feel it's critical to get these death benefits included as part of the law. It was the intent of the law and the legislators to not only protect the responders who became ill, but also their families, should they die," he said. The UFA Jan. 13 reported the deaths of three firefighters from lung-related diseases believed to be linked to their work at Ground Zero, and the Detectives' Endowment Association said the Jan. 5 death of 34-year-old retired Det. James Zadroga was also related to the 450 hours he spent investigating debris in the World Trade Center site. A medical autopsy is pending for Detective Zadroga. The families of the three firefighters have not made their medical reports public. The Fire Department has not confirmed the deaths or commented on any possible causal link to 9/11. Two Emergency Medical Technicians also passed away last summer from lung diseases believed to be related to 9/11, although the one coroner's report released to the public listed the death simply as a heart attack due to respiratory distress. Cumulative Toll DEA President Michael Palladino said he'd asked in informal discussions with the NYPD for a line-of-duty death designation for Detective Zadroga. "My feeling is, should his death certificate reveal that he's a victim of the World Trade Center, as we assume, then he's the 24th [city] police officer to succumb to 9/11 injuries," said Mr. Palladino. "He just didn't succumb that day." Mr. Palladino acknowledged the possibility that an autopsy might not establish that Mr. Zadroga's prolonged presence at Ground Zero four years ago brought about the diseases that took his life. 'Had to Be 9/11-Related' "Absent any clear indication, then it's left up to interpretation. But pre-9/11, James Zadroga was a very healthy individual with no symptoms of respiratory illness," the union leader noted. "His post-9/11 life was filled with difficulty breathing, reduced lung capacity, respiratory ailments and his health went downhill at an accelerated rate. I think it would be beyond coincidence to say this was his predetermined fate and not related to 9/11." Mr. Palladino said he hoped that no other first responders would suffer untimely deaths from what appeared to be 9/11-related illnesses, but that it was necessary to add a death benefit to the WTC disability law. The DEA is going to be polling its membership to get health information. According to Mr. Palladino, a week after Mr. Zadroga's passing, a second Detective died - Sandra Adrian, a 17-year-veteran of the force. She reportedly died of cancer, and the DEA is waiting for the autopsy before commenting on the possibility of a 9/11 link. "Sandra spent a good amount of time at Ground Zero and at the [Fresh Kills] landfill," he said. "But she wasn't as young as Zadroga, so I'm sure the big battle is going to be over whether it was related to 9/11 or not." No Protective Gear Shortly after the Twin Towers came down and the rescue effort turned into a recovery effort, officials declared Ground Zero a crime scene. When that happened, Mr. Palladino said, Fresh Kills, the morgue and the city bereavement center became Detective-heavy operations. Many of the Detectives were at the sites without protective gear or with inadequate gear; the DEA called in an industrial specialist a few days after the disaster who recommended more stringent protections that the union quickly adopted. Mr. Palladino and Mr. Slevin applauded the foresight of the Albany lawmakers who had insisted on including a task force in the final version of the bill presented to Governor Pataki last summer. Peter D. Meringolo, who as chair of the Public Employee Conference did most of the negotiating for city and state unions on the legislation, said he understood the urgent need to get the task force running. 'A Need to Monitor' "This bill, which was monumental in and of itself, is not foolproof, and there are things that we need to be monitoring and assessing now," he said. "At the Public Employees' [Conference] Breakfast in Albany this Feb. 7, one of the main objectives will be to get a time frame established and get the appointments finished, and we'll be giving examples like [Detective Zadroga] to reinforce the need for a death benefit." The task force is comprised of 19 members, three of whom are appointed by the Assembly, and three by the Senate. Four of those seats must be given to state or city labor leaders, and two must go to independent health experts. Of the Governor's six seats, one must be filled by the state Health Commissioner, and the remaining five can be designated as the Governor sees fit. Other appointees include the State Comptroller, the City Comptroller, the Mayor or a representative of his choice, a second appointee from the state Department of Health, the state's Department of Labor Commissioner, the Director of the state Division of the Budget and the Commissioner of the state Department of Civil Service. Outstanding Issues Assemblyman Peter Abbate, who was instrumental in getting the third version of the pension bill to the Governor's desk, said the Senate has already made its appointments and that the task force was very close to completion. He said there were a few issues that needed to be addressed, such as the situation of city Mechanics who cleaned and maintained all the vehicles used by first responders and others on 9/11 and for months after. Because the garages where they worked weren't included in the official delineation of "Ground Zero," they're not considered eligible for the disability pension. "They probably breathed in more dust and debris - after all, they were cleaning it up," said Mr. Abbate. "So that has to be fixed. But I'm open to hearing what the other unions have to say about a death benefit and I would support it, even if we have to do it in a different bill. It's something we knew was coming, we just didn't think it would be this soon." Mr. Abbate said he was pressing to get final appointments made by Feb. 1.Helping those harmed by 9/11, Editorial, Staten Island Advance, January 27, 2006 http://www.silive.com/editorials/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/113837226975870.xml&coll=1 Rep. Vito Fossella has occasionally been criticized for not working well with others -- at least if they're not rock-ribbed conservative Republican congressmen from the South and West. We'll leave the merits of that charge to others to decide. In his defense, however, we point to his recent collaboration with Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan. These two New York members of the House of Representatives have teamed up to call on the federal Department of Health and Human Services to appoint a 9/11 heath czar to coordinate the identification and treatment of those whose health was adversely affected in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Health-care experts believe that tens of thousands of first responders, federal employees and lower Manhattan residents and workers are suffering from health problems caused by exposure to toxins at or near the World Trade Center site. Reps. Fossella and Maloney are concerned that the $125 million in federal funding they and other members of the New York delegation recently obtained for treating those sickened at Ground Zero and environs be accurately targeted and wisely spent. They say putting a single seasoned health professional -- a "czar" -- in charge of this complex and profound responsibility will bring accountability, order and efficiency to the effort. Their joint letter to HHS read, in part, "The health problems affecting 9/11 responders are clearly real and dangerous. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the government response has been inadequate." Rep. Fossella said in a separate statement, "The 9/11 Health Czar would be directly responsible and accountable for the full range of the federal government's response. A comprehensive screening, monitoring and treatment program is essential to protecting the health of 9/11 responders. The recent deaths of several rescue workers underscore the need for enhancing current efforts and appointing one person to oversee the entire initiative." We're normally skeptical of calls for so-called "czars" to address major issues, but in this case, the lawmakers are right on target. The 9/11 health problem, while it involves an alarming number of people, is confined, so it lends itself to this kind of approach over the long term. The combined efforts on this front thus far have been scattershot and ineffective. As Mr. Fossella put it, "There doesn't seem to be one individual who is in charge of coordinating this huge task." If HHS heeds their call, there will be. Bravo to Reps. Fossella and Maloney for putting aside partisan differences on other issues and uniting to confront in a logical and intelligent way this critical, almost sacred responsibility to help those who are suffering in the wake of 9/11. © 2006 Staten Island Advance © 2006 SILive.com All Rights Reserved. Back to Top
Bloomberg's Call for New Developers At WTC Site Stirs the Pot, by Paul Rosta, Senior Associate Editor January 27, 2006
http://www.commercialpropertynews.com/cpn/regions/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001920115
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's call yesterday for developer Larry Silverstein to partly relinquish control of the World Trade Center site today renewed discussions about a perceived lack of progress there and the best course to follow.Bloomberg reignited the debate yesterday during his annual State of the City address, during which he called for World Trade Center site leaseholder Silverstein Properties Inc. to hand over responsibility for developing two of the four towers to other developers, in exchange for rent reduction. The key would be if the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, could commit to being the anchor tenant in one of the towers. "The time to reach agreement is now," Bloomberg said. "We cannot allow the Trade Center to be a construction site for the next 15 years, which the current plan all but ensures it will be."
Silverstein Properties responded in a prepared statement that the firm was able to move ahead but cannot build the second, third and fourth towers until the Port Authority completes site preparation, including site excavation and a protective slurry wall. "It's unclear whether that's a convenient excuse or that's a real thing--and that's what's causing the delays," Donald Lutt, managing director at GVA Williams Brokerage Services and chair of the Real Estate Board of New York's subcommittee on Lower Manhattan incentives, told CPN this afternoon.
Silverstein plans to break ground on the Freedom Tower this year, and construction is also scheduled to start on the Port Authority's transit hub. Nevertheless, the perceived lack of progress is a continuing source of frustration. "No plan is going to be the perfect plan," Lutt said. "But no action, which is what everyone's seeing, is the worst plan."
Some observers say that Silverstein will eventually have to give up the site because the company lacks a deep enough bench and deep enough pockets. "If this was ready to go tomorrow, he'd have to build a company to do it," said a veteran New York City real estate executive active in Downtown. "I think at the end of the day&hellipLarry winds up giving up."
The volume of construction activity also makes it unattractive to many prospective tenants, he contended. "Lower Manhattan is now a full-fledged permanent construction zone," the executive said.
Eric Deutsch, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, urged the sides to come together and find a solution. "It's important for the business and residential community downtown that physical improvements are made," he told CPN this afternoon, "that the infrastructure movements are made and that the buildings go up as soon as possible."
© 2006 VNU eMedia Inc. All rights reserved.
Back to TopResponders, lawmakers press for '9/11 Health Czar' by Lisa Schneider, Staten Island Advance, January 26, 2006
http://www.silive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/113828948712560.xml&coll=1
Official would coordinate disaster programs and secure care for those who fell sick after terror attacks
Standing in front of a Ground Zero scabbed over by construction trucks and time, the walking wounded of Sept. 11 joined two members of Congress yesterday to demand the appointment of a federal "9/11 Health Czar." Reps. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) want the czar to coordinate World Trade Center disaster programs and secure care now and in years to come for thousands of first responders, recovery workers and residents. In the past year, three people reportedly died as a result of ailments developed after 9/11. "Their deaths should be a clarion call to the entire Congress and the entire country to once and for all put somebody in charge to help those who need our help," Fossella said. The destruction of the Twin Towers created a toxic atmospheric "cocktail" of pulverized glass, asbestos and poisonous gases. "We are in the middle of a health crisis that can't be ignored," said Ms. Maloney. "It seems like our government has abandoned the heroes of 9/11 just when they need help the most." Heroes like Timothy Keller, who was a healthy emergency medical technician when he responded to Ground Zero. David Keller, 19, said yesterday that he watched his father cough up blood and phlegm, and eventually die. Linda Belfer, a resident of Lower Manhattan, said she has developed allergies and respiratory problems. She now uses a wheelchair. Marvin Bethea, a paramedic who took only two medications before Sept. 11, 2001, today takes 14 drugs, ranging from pills for high blood pressure to asthma inhalers to anxiety relievers. The health care czar would fill the gaps in what has been dubbed by those who attended yesterday's rally as an inadequate federal response. "9/11 is not over," Ms. Maloney said. "We have failed to provide health care and support to 9/11 heroes." "People are perishing now," said Tom Hart, chairman of an advisory committee for the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Monitoring Program. "Is there a 100 percent link [to 9/11]? No. If you look in their faces, you know. The folks who were here got sick." In the past four years, several programs have screened thousands of responders, and many of them have had persistent health problems, said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, medical core director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program. "Many of these people are unable to work," she said. "They still need help. They still need treatment. ... We need money to treat them." Dr. Moline said she worries that the deaths reported so far are just the beginning. It remains unclear what the long-term health effects will be across the decades, making it even more important for a fully coordinated system of tracking and treatment, said Fossella. "My father shouldn't have died," said David Keller. "He applied for Sept. 11 benefits but was denied. ... I went to different hospitals with him. Everyone kept saying the same thing: 'This is from the World Trade Center.'" For more information about available screening programs, call the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program at (888) 702-0630. Lisa Schneider covers health news for the Advance. She may be reached at schneider@siadvance.com. © 2006 Staten Island Advance © 2006 SILive.com All Rights Reserved. Back to Top Halliburton Posts $1.1 Billion Profit, by Russell Gold, Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2006http://online.wsj.com/search/services_results.html
Riding growing demand for sophisticated oilfield services amid the continuing energy boom, Halliburton Co. posted a $1.1 billion profit in the fourth quarter. This was boosted by a $540 million gain related to future tax considerations.The company also said it was making progress resolving billing issues over massive contracts supporting U.S. troop deployment and restoring the oil infrastructure in Iraq, even as its revenue from this work declined. The company said it had made a "favorable settlement'' with the Pentagon auditors on all outstanding billing issues related how much it charged to deliver fuel into Iraq at the beginning of the war.
Houston-based Halliburton is primarily an oilfield services firm in the business of providing specialized technology and skills to exploration companies. But it also has a large engineering, construction and government-contracting unit known as Kellogg Brown & Root, or KBR.
The company is still considering separating KBR, in an effort to boost its stock value which executives say is dragged down by the unit. Analysts expect an announcement of an initial public offering of a minority stake in the company soon, perhaps in the next quarter. A surge in energy construction has pushed up the value of independent engineering concerns, making an IPO increasingly attractive.
Halliburton reported a $1.1 billion profit in the quarter, or $2.08 a share. This includes $540 million related to a reduction in a deferred tax asset valuation allowance related to its asbestos settlement fund.
The profit compares to a $210 million loss in the fourth-quarter a year ago, or 45 cents a share, when earnings were dragged down by an after-tax $384 million non-cash charge related to the rising cost of shares pledged to a fund created to resolve asbestos litigation. In addition, the year-earlier quarter was impacted by several one-time losses and a gain that resulted in a net $52 million charge before taxes.
Halliburton reported $5.8 billion in revenue in the quarter, up from $5.2 billion a year earlier. The company said its Iraq work contributed $1.3 billion in revenue in the quarter, down from $1.7 billion a year ago.Write to Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com
Copyright © 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Back to TopBloomberg Seeks Control Over Ground Zero, by Sara Kugler, Associated Press Writer, January 26, 2006
Mayor Michael Bloomberg used his State of the City address Thursday to muscle his way into the debate over rebuilding at the World Trade Center, urging a developer to give up control over part of the project.
Bloomberg blasted the redevelopment plan for the swath of Lower Manhattan that was scarred by the 2001 terrorist attack, a project largely led by Gov. George Pataki throughout the mayor's first term.
The redevelopment will stall, Bloomberg said, unless the timeline is revised and rebuilding efforts accelerated.
"We need this now, to advance our economy and pay tribute to those who died there not a decade and a half in the future, when it fits a developer's financial plan," he said.
The mayor was referring to a collection of smaller skyscrapers planned around the ambitious 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, which is in the early stages of construction. Groundbreaking for the trade center memorial is scheduled to begin this spring, but the current timeline does not have the complex finished until 2015.
The mayor said trade center developer Larry Silverstein should give up control over two key towers planned for ground zero in exchange for rent reduction, and allow the city to take over so the projects can proceed more quickly.
Janno Lieber, director of World Trade Center development for Silverstein's organization, said the group was not responsible for construction delays. He said the Port Authority must first excavate the site and make other preparations before the buildings can go up.
After the mayor's speech, a Pataki spokeswoman said the governor last month asked the Port Authority to reassess Silverstein's role at ground zero and report to him by mid-March.
Bloomberg also signaled that he will crack down on illegal guns after the recent shooting deaths of two police officers. He described a program that would require gun offenders to register and update their addresses with law enforcement, and a push to make criminal possession of a loaded weapon a felony with a minimum 3 1/2-year sentence. Both proposals would require the state Legislature's approval.The mayor acknowledged that many illegal guns come from other states, but warned that the city will begin to hold gun dealers "accountable for the terrible damage their guns cause."
Copyright 2006, Associated Press Back to TopPushing for '9/11 health czar' by Lisa Schneider, Staten Island Advance, January 25, 2006 http://www.silive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/113819960142380.xml&coll=1 Over the next few decades, health officials say, thousands of people will need treatment for ills related to Sept. 11, 2001, including problems that may not yet be apparent -- but even now, some of these folks are falling through the cracks. Yesterday, Reps. Vito Fossella and Carolyn Maloney pressed the federal Department of Health and Human Services to appoint a "9/11 health czar" to oversee comprehensive studies of 9/11's health effects, as well as all treatment programs . As is, "there doesn't seem to be one individual who is in charge of coordinating this huge task," complained Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn). He and Ms. Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) have scheduled a press conference at Ground Zero today -- with sick and injured workers -- to drive home their demand. After recapturing $125 million in federal funding for the city, the representatives want to ensure the money goes toward treating patients effectively and tracking their illnesses. Lending urgency to the issue are several reports of recent deaths from 9/11-related illnesses. "The health problems affecting 9/11 responders are clearly real and dangerous," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to HHS, adding, "Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the government response has been inadequate." Anything that helps residents of Lower Manhattan get the health care they need would be an important and positive step, said Dr. David Prezant, deputy chief medical officer of the city Fire Department. But he cautioned that the operations of a health czar could tie existing programs in more strands of red tape. "We are looking to serve as partners," Dr. Prezant said. "It would be useful that there be a partnership, so that the lessons that we have learned be applied and that we do not go backwards." Less than one month after the World Trade Center collapsed, the FDNY began a comprehensive monitoring and treatment program for its members. Since then, it has partnered with agencies including Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine to aggressively monitor and treat almost 28,000 firefighters, police officers, medical technicians and volunteers who helped in the recovery and cleanup work. The groups meet monthly and have made joint presentations on their findings. Soon after the terrorist attacks, one firefighter died from interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, Dr. Prezant said. But the programs have since been effective in halting the progress of many responders' respiratory illnesses, he said, and "we have had no cases since then because of aggressive monitoring." That success demonstrates the importance of maintaining an extensive and timely monitoring system, Dr. Prezant said. Meanwhile, much of the affected population has been left behind, without a treatment program to address current and future health needs, Fossella and Ms. Maloney told HHS. They noted that two screening programs for state and federal workers were closed soon after they began. And three men reportedly died from 9/11-induced health effects within the past year. Without a centralized effort to monitor and treat everyone, the legislators wrote, many have grown increasingly ill and are unable to pay their medical bills. "These guys who needed treatment couldn't get it," Fossella said. Lisa Schneider covers health news for the Advance. She may be reached at schneider@siadvance.com. © 2006 Staten Island Advance © 2006 SILive.com All Rights Reserved Back to Top
9/11 Health Czar Sought, CNN.com, January 25, 2006, watch the video at: http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2006/01/25/snow.911.health.czar.cnn&wm=10 In recent months, three emergency responders who worked at ground zero just after the 9/11 attacks have died. Others are sick. Some officials in New York say toxic remains from the World Trade Center collapse are to blame. Now they want action. Let's go to the scene. Our Mary Snow is standing by at the -- what's called ground zero, the site of the World Trade Center -- Mary. MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, rescue workers who say they were once hailed as heroes here at ground zero now they say they need help. They say they're concerned about their health. And they say it's not easy to make a direct link between their sickness and the work they did here more than four years ago. Today, they joined lawmakers in asking the federal government to appoint a 9/11 health czar. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SNOW (voice-over): They're being called the latest victims of 9/11, three emergency workers who spent weeks, even months, at ground zero who have recently died. Police Detective James Zadroga was the latest to succumb to lung ailments. Their families insist it's because of the hundreds of hours they spent inhaling toxic debris. Now a congressional delegation from New York is calling on the federal government to appoint a 9/11 health czar. REP. VITO FOSSELLA (R), NEW YORK: I need no scientist or researcher to tell me that the people who responded to 9/11, four-and- a-half years later, are suffering. SNOW: Lawmakers were joined by emergency workers, like former paramedic Marvin Betha (ph), who held up a sign to show the two medications he took before 9/11 and the many he takes now. Vince Forras volunteered several weeks at ground zero and says now he can't go without his inhaler and medications. VINCENT FORRAS, SUFFERS POST-9/11 HEALTH PROBLEMS: Never had a breathing problem in my life, used to run two, three miles a day. Now I have trouble walking from the car into my house. SNOW: Doctors who are tracking the 9/11 responders say many are getting sick. DR. JACQUELINE MOLINE, WORLD TRADE CENTER MEDICAL MONITORING PROGRAM: We have seen 16,000 responders. These people are showing problems. They still have respiratory problems. They still have problems with their sinuses, with their throats. SNOW: Officials say money to monitor them has come from private funds. And they say many are fighting red tape just to get insurance benefits. REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D), NEW YORK: They are calling my office, some of whom tell me they do not even have the help with their drugs that they need. Many cannot work. It's a -- it's a national disgrace and it's a crisis. SNOW: Lawmakers say there needs to be coordinated effort by the government to track these illnesses, fearing the numbers of cases will drastically increase with passing time. (END VIDEOTAPE) SNOW: And, just earlier today, lawmakers sent letter to the secretary of health and human services, Michael Leavitt, asking for this appointment. This afternoon, we got a response from the Department of Health and Human Services, saying: "We have received the letter and currently reviewing their recommendations. The health needs resulting from 9/11 are of primary concern to us" -- Wolf. BLITZER: All right, Mary, thank you very much, Mary Snow at ground zero in New York.
N.Y. pols press for 9/11 health czar, by Thomas Zambito, NY Daily News, January 25th, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/385528p-327183c.html
New York's congressional delegation will urge the Bush administration today to appoint a health czar to oversee the treatment of thousands of Ground Zero workers left sick after toiling amid the rubble left by the Sept. 11 attacks.
The bipartisan demand comes a week after the Daily News reported that lawyers for thousands of injured workers have turned up at least 23 Ground Zero workers, many of them in their 30s and 40s, who have died from cancer and other causes.
Their families have joined some 5,200 responders in a pending class-action suit that alleges the city and its contractors didn't do enough to protect them from a toxic environment at Ground Zero.
"The number of deaths becomes a clarion call to do more and to do better," said Rep. Vito Fossella (R-S.I.) "These are Americans who responded to a tragedy, and we need to help them."
In a letter to Michael Leavitt, the federal Health and Human Services secretary, 17 legislators - including New York Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer - express "grave concerns" about the recent deaths and urge him to appoint a health professional to coordinate the federal government's response to the illnesses faced by some of the 40,000 who responded to the site after Sept. 11.
The New York delegation recently succeeded in getting the Bush administration to free up some $75 million for treatment of sick responders, but they say that won't be enough to treat thousands of workers for decades to come.
More than four years later, thousands of 9/11 responders are sick and they seem to have been forgotten," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan).
Fossella and Maloney have co-written an op-ed piece in today's News, outlining their case for a health czar.
They and other lawmakers will be joined at a news conference near the Ground Zero site today by dozens of workers, many of whom have not been able to work for the past four years because of respiratory illnesses contracted at the site.
Among them are John Feal and John Sferazzo, Ground Zero construction workers who started a group called Unsung Heroes for Heroes to advocate for fellow responders.
"In all honesty, we've gotten poor treatment," said Sferazzo, 50, of Huntington, L.I. "We're made to feel like we're really expendable."
Feal, 39, of Nesconset, L.I., had half of his left foot amputated after it was crushed by falling steel and suffers through respiratory ailments and bouts of depression. "I don't intend to keep feeling sorry for myself," he said. "I'm going to fight back. Every day I'm going to help someone who made an effort on 9/11."
All contents © 2006 Daily News,
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Create 9/11 health czar, op-ed by Reps Vito Fossella and Carolyn Maloney, NY Daily News, January 25, 2006 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/385419p-327092c.html Within hours of the collapse of the World Trade Center, firefighters, police officers, federal agents and other first responders labored alongside hardhats and average New Yorkers without regard for their own health or safety. Unbeknownst to them, many were inhaling a potentially poisonous cocktail of asbestos, lead, mercury, powdered glass and other carcinogens. We are now only beginning to see the potentially deadly effects on some who worked at Ground Zero. Thousands have already been documented as sick, and many of them lack access to sufficient medical care or treatment. Reports indicate that several responders may have died as a result of their service at Ground Zero years after the attack. Since June alone, we have mourned the loss of three local heroes - EMTs Felix Hernandez, 31; Timothy Keller, 41; and, earlier this month, NYPD Detective James Zadroga, 34. We have repeatedly called for improvements in meeting the health needs of 9/11 responders and area residents. Yet as of today, there appears to be no one individual in the federal government charged with overseeing the massive job of monitoring and treating those who are injured or sick. That is why this morning we will be at Ground Zero with New York's first responders to call for the appointment of a national 9/11 health czar. The czar must be a seasoned health professional able to fill the gaps in the federal response and bring together those with a proven track record screening, monitoring and treating 9/11 responders. The health czar's first order of business must be ensuring that an exhaustive medical screening and monitoring program encompassing a large pool of responders and residents is operational. To date, such programs have yielded valuable information, but have tracked only a fraction of the affected population and, to our dismay, have never been fully funded. Their preliminary findings raise serious concerns: The World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program found that roughly half of the 16,000 people followed have a medical condition resulting from 9/11. A New York City Fire Department study reported similar findings. Other screening programs have not fared as well. One initiative geared to state workers was terminated while another for federal rescue workers was closed after screening only 400 of the approximately 10,000 federal responders at Ground Zero. A first step was taken last month when a bipartisan coalition of New York lawmakers, including Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Pataki and the entire state congressional delegation, successfully restored $125 million in federal funding for sick 9/11 responders. This victory will enable us to provide, for the first time, long overdue medical treatment for those in need. The 9/11 health czar would be on the front lines of this initiative, charged with distributing funding to expand and enhance medical screening and monitoring programs and ensuring federal dollars are dedicated to treatment. This individual also would be responsible for bringing together the collective talents of the medical and scientific communities to develop a plan to help all those who are ill from 9/11. After 4-1/2 years, the time to act is now. The lives of those injured on and after 9/11 depend on it. Fossella, a Republican, represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. Maloney, a Democrat, represents parts of Manhattan and Queens. All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
Chinese developer to open conference center at 7 WTC, AP, Newsday, January 24, 2006
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--attacks-chinacent0124jan24,0,2203081,print.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
NEW YORK (AP) _ A Beijing developer has agreed to rent the top five floors of Seven World Trade Center to open a business center for Chinese firms, the biggest rental so far for the rebuilt skyscraper, officials announced Tuesday.
Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. Ltd. will rent 200,000 square feet on floors 48 through 52 of the building to create a hub for Chinese businesses moving to New York and for firms interested in investing in China, the developers said.
"We are pleased to be building a bridge between the Chinese and U.S. business and cultural communities," said Lun Feng, chairman of Beijing Vantone. "The China Center will be both a business and cultural destination, providing a platform to nurture mutually beneficial dialogue."
The preliminary lease agreement for the China Center is the third and largest at the building rebuilt by World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein after it collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. The 52-story tower had no signed tenants until last month, and has leased a total of 60,000 square feet to Ameriprise Financial and the New York Academy of Sciences.
It is set to open for business in April, the same month that groundbreaking is scheduled on the Freedom Tower at the trade center site. The Freedom Tower has no signed tenants.
State and city officials took credit for bringing the Chinese developer to lower Manhattan, starting with a 2004 meeting in China with city Economic Development Corp. president Andrew Alper and later meetings with Gov. George Pataki and other officials who hope the center will lure other multinational firms to downtown Manhattan.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
US Senate Debate on Asbestos to Open Feb 6, by Susan Cornwell, Reuters, January 24, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/news/n