[Wtcrc] 9/11-RELATED CONTAMINATION AND DEMOLITION - 3 items

Thu May 18 09:45:17 EDT 2006

NYCOSH Newswatch

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	New York 1 to Broadcast Today's WTC Redevelopment Hearing Live,
Beginning at 10:30 - New York 1 News, May 17, 2006

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	Rudy's Deputy: I Have 9/11 Illness - New York Post, May 17, 2006

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	Former Deputy Mayor Claims 9/11 Illness - NY1 News, May 17, 2006

======================================================
Residents To Hear WTC Site Redevelopment Plans At Hearing Thursday 

New York 1 News
May 17, 2006

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=59522

On Thursday New Yorkers may finally find out what's going on in Lower
Manhattan, as State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will co-chair a
hearing on the redevelopment plan for the World Trade Center Site and
surrounding neighborhood. 

Silver says years of debate over reconstruction have strained the local
community and economy. He argues New Yorkers deserve to know the current
status of the project, particularly when it comes to the building of the
new towers and the WTC memorial. 

Speakers scheduled at the hearing include Gretchen Dykstra from the
World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, and Larry Silverstein, the
leaseholder of the site. 

NY1 will air the hearing live starting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. 

======================================================
Rudy's Deputy: I Have 9/11 Illness 

By Maggie Haberman 
New York Post
May 17, 2006

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/68669.htm

A deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration who directed officials to
test the air after the 9/11 attacks has filed a medical claim for
respiratory illnesses suspected to have been caused by the pollution at
Ground Zero, The Post has learned. 

Rudy Washington, who was caught in the plume of dust and debris after
the first of the Twin Towers fell and who worked tirelessly downtown for
weeks, is the highest-ranking official known to have fallen ill from a
suspected WTC-related ailment. 

Washington's claim for his rising medical expenses, filed about a year
ago, was approved recently after a state Worker's Compensation Board
hearing, the sources said. 

The Bloomberg administration has told Washington it plans to appeal the
approval. 

Several sources said Mayor Bloomberg, whom Washington - the
highest-ranking black in Giuliani's administration - backed early in his
2001 campaign for City Hall and again last year, is personally aware of
the case. 

Washington declined to discuss his claim, telling The Post, "It's my
private life . . . I'm out of city government." His lawyer, Robert Gray,
could not be reached. 

Washington, 52 - who became a consultant after the end of the Giuliani
administration - arrived on the scene at Ground Zero soon after the
attack, and was caught in the plume after the first tower fell. 

He made his way back to City Hall, where he took the first call from
Gov. Pataki, ordered bridges and tunnels into Manhattan closed and
started mobilizing cleanup crews downtown. He also directed city
officials to test the air. 

"He was the person who so heroically" remained downtown almost
constantly, said one source. 

In the weeks that followed, he oversaw the Community Assistance Unit and
worked closely with victims' relatives. 

The sources said Washington got sick almost immediately after the
attack, and was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. 

He was later diagnosed with asthma, a condition that he never suffered
prior to 9/11, the sources said. He is now on several medications, and
has been in and out of doctors' offices and emergency rooms in the past
five years. 

The former deputy mayor joined a screening program at Mount Sinai
Hospital that treats rescue workers and others exposed to the fetid air.

But with mounting medical bills, Washington filed the worker's
compensation claim late last year - only to cover his doctors' costs,
according to the sources. 

The Bloomberg administration did not agree to the claim, so he had a
hearing where evidence was presented, the sources said. 

Washington learned on March 11 that he had won rights to compensation,
but received notice from the city a few weeks later that the
administration planned to appeal, sources said. 

A spokesman for the state Worker's Compensation Board said he could not
legally comment on whether an appeal had been filed. 

Worker's compensation claims are not publicly available, and officials
are barred by law from talking about them. 

Claims for city workers not related to the NYPD, the FDNY or the
Sanitation Department are generally handled by the state worker's
compensation board, state officials said. 

maggie.haberman at nypost.com <mailto:maggie.haberman at nypost.com>  

======================================================
Former Deputy Mayor Claims 9/11 Illness

By Rita Nissan
NY1 News
May 17, 2006

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=59508
<http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=59508> #

A former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration says he's feeling
the health effects of his time Downtown after the September 11th
attacks.

A former Giuliani administration official says Rudy Washington has filed
a medical claim for respiratory illnesses believed to have been caused
by pollution at the World Trade Center site.

Washington was caught in the dust and debris after the first tower fell,
and he continued to work in the area for weeks afterwards.

Sources tell NY1 that Washington's claim to cover his medical expenses
was approved, but that the Bloomberg administration plans to appeal.

NY1's Rita Nissan filed this report.

Former Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington is one of the many quiet heroes of
9/11. As a top Giuliani administration official, he got caught in the
smoke and debris when the Twin Towers collapsed, and he spent weeks
guiding the rescue and recovery effort.

But he says all that time being exposed to the polluted air has taken a
debilitating toll on his heath. And now a close friend says the
Bloomberg administration is trying to block Washington's claim to cover
rising medical expenses.

"It's sad and heartbreaking that he is having to go through this," said
Randy Mastro, who was also a deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani.

Mastro says he's worried about his friend, and felt compelled to speak
out when news of Washington's condition made headlines.

"[He has] asthma for the first time, labored breathing, he is taking
multiple medications," said the former deputy mayor. "He had to be
rushed to the emergency room several times with breathing problems."

Mastro says Washington joined a program at Mount Sinai that helps people
exposed to the dusty air. Mastro says Washington can't afford the
treatment, so he filed a claim with the state Worker's Compensation
Board. It was approved, but Mastro says the city is appealing.

"The consequences of that appeal could be tragic if his medical care
can't go forward," said Mastro.

Mastro says he has no idea why the city is trying to deny the coverage.

The Law Department would only say of the case: "The city's and Mr.
Washington's lawyers are currently in discussions about the case. Since
it is a pending legal issue, it would be inappropriate to comment
further."

Washington was a strong supporter of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, endorsing
him in both campaigns for City Hall.

"My only hope, now that the mayor must know about what his own Law
Department is doing, is that he will tell his Law Department that they
should not be appealing that decision," said Mastro.

NY1 reached Washington by phone, but he would not comment. Nor would his
lawyer.

Mastro says his former colleague is very private, but now that his
situation is public he hopes it's resolved quickly.

Copyright (c) 2006 NY1 News

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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