Although New York City politicians have encouraged 9/11 victims and responders to get Covid vaccines, many claim that they should have been given access much sooner because 9/11 victims suffer disproportionately from pulmonary conditions.
Read article here….
http://NYC POLITICIANS URGE 9/11 SURVIVORS TO GET COVID VACCINE — BUT ADVOCATES DECRY LATE ACCESS
Lila Nordstrom was 17 years old and a high school student at Stuyvesant in downtown Manhattan when the 9/11 disaster struck. When about to graduate from college, she heard about some of her former fellow students starting to get sick from 9/11-related conditions. She decided to write her elected officials and become an advocate for young people affected by 9/11 to seek health care.
Read more here…
http://STORIES OF HOPE: FROM HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TO 9/11 HEALTH ADVOCATE
The Special Master of the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund issued the following message in conjunction with the issuance of its Ninth Annual Report of the Fund:
Message from the Special Master
February 16, 2021
While it is impossible to review the past year without mention of the enormous challenges presented by COVID-19, and its particularly severe impact on the 9/11 community, I am proud to report that the VCF’s work on their behalf continued with almost no disruption throughout 2020. Because this report is designed to summarize the year, it includes details of how the VCF overcame some specific impacts of COVID-19, but more importantly, it provides a comprehensive review of a very successful 2020, which ended with the VCF having communicated awards totaling nearly $7.76 billion to over 34,400 individuals over the course of its ten years in operation.
We began the year energized and inspired by the opportunities provided by the July 2019 passage of the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act (“VCF Permanent Authorization Act”). Relieved to have what we thought was a very challenging year of unprecedented change behind us, we set ambitious internal goals for 2020 and focused on what needed to happen to transition the program to reflect its new permanent status.
That transition continues apace, focused on the operational sustainability of the program, providing enhanced service to claimants that lead to timely and equitable awards, and, as always, reducing the time it takes for an award to be made. At the same time, we remain committed to enhancing our outreach efforts to ensure that every person who might be eligible for a VCF award is aware of the program and has the resources and support they need to register and file a claim. There is more information on our efforts to expand and enhance the accessibility of information about the VCF – including our newly redesigned website – in the pages ahead.
I am particularly pleased to report on our overall productivity this year. In early March, given the emergence of COVID-19, the VCF team transitioned to a nearly all-remote workforce in a matter of days, with almost no interruptions to our work. As The Year in Numbers on page five confirms, we maintained or exceeded all measures of productivity, with the exception of our Appeals process, which slowed down in our effort to protect vulnerable claimants in the New York area, but came back strong through the ingenuity of our hearings team, and the cooperation of claimants and their representatives. (See page 14 for details.)
As we look to 2021, it is worth noting that we began 2019 with great uncertainty about the future of the VCF as funds were being expended much more quickly than expected, and yet, against all odds, we ended that year with the best possible outcome. With funding assured, we began 2020 with great optimism, ready to chart a strong and sustainable course for the future of the VCF, and despite COVID-19, we have persevered. And while some uncertainty remains as we begin this New Year, I am confident that whatever comes our way, the VCF team is well-prepared and well-positioned to continue advancing our vital mission on behalf of the 9/11 community we so proudly serve.
Sincerely,
Rupa Bhattacharyya
Steve White of Power of Ten writes the following in their newsletter:
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is taking on “21st Century Jim Crow Education” in East Ramapo.
Last week, together with the Spring Valley NAACP, they delivered a letter with more than 1500 signatures to the State Education Commissioner urging her to take immediate action to stop the ongoing civil rights violations in the East Ramapo Central School District.
On February 8, 2021, the New York State Democratic Committee issued a press release stating that over 100 NY State candidates and volunteers commenced a lawsuit to protect the health of New Yorkers in the face of Covid-19. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who supported the lawsuit, made the following statement:
“This lawsuit is an effort to prevent the impending and inevitable spread of COVID-19 that would come when in dozens of races, hundreds of candidates may be required to send thousands of volunteers to have in-person contact with hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in order to collect signatures and access the 2021 ballot.”
Read the press release…
Asian-American students were harassed and kept from entering a meeting at a school after they participated in a protest against proposed changes By Chancellor Carranza to testing and admissions requirements for NYC specialized high schools. Advocates for Justice has commenced a lawsuit on behalf of Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York and five individual Asian-American plaintiffs against Carranza, Mayor De Blasio, the Assistant Principal of the school where the meeting was held and several police officers.
Read more….
Judge Torres of the US District Court, Southern District of NY, ruled on 8/3/2020 that any otherwise valid absentee ballots received at a Board of Elections office by June 24th (whether or not postmarked) and any such ballots received on June 25th (if postmarked no later than June 23rd) shall be deemed valid.
Read the decision here…
http://8-3-2020-us-district-court-rules-absentee-ballots-shall-be-validated
In a decision by Judge Torres of the US District Court, Southern Division, it was ordered that Andrew Yang and plaintiff delegates be reinstated to the ballot of the NY State Presidential Primary ballot. In the words of Judge Torres: “the Court’s injunction restores all ten presidential candidates named in the April 27 Resolution, and their respective slates of delegate candidates, to the New York Democratic presidential primary ballot, and requires that the primary election be held on June 23, 2020.”
Read the decision here…
https://a4justice.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/yang-v.-nys-board-of-elections-5.pdf
John Feal, a 9/11 recovery worker and the founder of the FealGood Foundation, confirmed to CBS News that McConnell has agreed to meet with a group of first responders to discuss the need to reauthorize the legislation first established nine years ago to help those with illnesses related to the 2001 terror attacks. The legislation has been brought back to the forefront after Stewart delivered a blistering rebuke of Congressional inaction on the measure just as the fund is running short of money.
Asked what he had hoped to accomplish with the meeting, Feal told CBS News: “To let him know we want our legislation refunded and extended in the near future and to sense our urgency and then be left alone.” He later said, “So he is either on board or he gets a street fight.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is meeting Tuesday with 9/11 first responders who’ve been pushing him to move aggressively to pass a new funding bill to care for Sept. 11 heroes and survivors, even as yet another of them lies dying.
Pressure has mounted on McConnell (R-Ky) since first responders, including cancer-stricken former NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez and comedian Jon Stewart gave heart-wrenching testimony to Congress a little over a week ago about the Victim Compensation Fund, which is running out of money.
Alvarez left that hearing for what would have been his 69th round of chemotherapy, but doctors discovered when he arrived that his liver was no longer functioning and there was nothing they could do.
Alvarez is now in hospice, still hoping Congress will act. “I will continue to fight until the Good Lord decides it’s time,” he posted on Facebook after hearing from his doctors.
His fellow first responders will go to Washington for him.
Advocates for Justice 