by ARI PAUL
Both the Police and Fire Departments suffered grievous losses responding to the 9/11 attacks, and both forces have since lost others due to illnesses those employees contracted by inhaling toxins during the rescue and recovery efforts. A key difference is that the NYPD has begun adding the names of those who died from those illnesses on its Memorial Wall, while the FDNY has not.
But several FDNY employee and retiree groups, including the Uniformed Firefighters Association, are advocating that the department enshrine those names on the Wall of Honor at its downtown Brooklyn headquarters.
FDNY Doesn't Follow NYPD
In a move marking the Bloomberg administration's admission that city workers have died due to their 9/11 rescue and recovery work, the Mayor and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly honored eight police officers who succumbed to illnesses linked to inhaling toxic air while working at Ground Zero, along with three other officers who died in the line of duty, during NYPD Memorial Day at 1 Police Plaza in May. One of the officers honored in May was Det. James Zadroga, whose name adorns a City Hall- and union-backed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives seeking Federal funding for 9/11 medical treatment and monitoring.
"We have guys dying left and right," said retired Fire Lieut. Craig Buccieri, who is secretary of the New York City Firefighter Brotherhood Foundation. "In the Police Department they came right out. The Fire Department has yet to do that."
He, along with Uniformed FDNY Emergency Medical Service Retirees Association President Marianne Pizzitola, believes that toxins inhaled at Ground Zero led to numerous cases of leukemia and other cancers and respiratory illness that have caused firefighter and EMS deaths. The two groups are in discussions about a joint advocacy effort to add those names to the wall at the FDNY's building at MetroTech.
UFA: They Deserve Recognition
UFA President Steve Cassidy supported the two groups last week, saying in a statement: "Firefighters, who risked their lives heroically on 9/11 and toiled in its aftermath and later died, need to be recognized as the heroes they are, just as the NYPD has already done for their deceased members."
Deputy Fire Commissioner for Legal Affairs Daniel Shacknai explained the department's policy June 30 in a letter to Ms. Pizzitola in response to her request to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta after the police memorial asking that the FDNY follow suit.
"We share your view that these members who have died since 9/11 deserve to be properly memorialized, and their families treated with respect and compassion," Mr. Shacknai said. "However, for purposes of inclusion on the Wall of Honor, the FDNY has a 143-year tradition of drawing a distinction between active members killed in the line of duty and those who were not. Since 1865, only active duty personnel killed in the line of duty have been honored with a plaque on the Memorial Wall."
He added, "Our Family Assistance Unit serves all of our Fire and EMS families who have suffered the loss of a loved one or who face exceptional challenges."
An FDNY spokesman said the department will not change its policy.
'A Unique Event'
Ms. Pizzitola said she didn't follow the department's logic, adding that just because something is a tradition does not mean that it can't be amended.
"I think 9/11 was a very unique event that had a great impact on the service of the New York City Fire Department," she said in a phone interview. "There's no reason not to add these people. Because you didn't die on 9/11, but after, you're not entitled to anything?"
Ms. Pizzitola said that five EMS members have died in the last seven years due to illness contracted at Ground Zero. Along with Tom Eppinger, who as president of Local 3621 of District Council 37 represents EMS officers, she has complained that while the department has recognized several of those deaths, it was not at the same level as firefighters and police officers who were killed when the World Trade Center collapsed.
She specifically cited the case of Paramedic Deborah Reeve, who died on March 15, 2006 at age 42 from mesothelioma, a deadly cancer her friends and family believe was contracted during her time working at Ground Zero. The FDNY honored her memory with a plaque unveiling at her Bronx EMS station in March, but Ms. Pizzitola noted that her death was still not classified as being in the line of duty.
"We're asking them for an honor of respect, and we're not getting that," she said.
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