The Chief 9/17/18: Governor Extends Deadline for WTC Benefits Applications

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Governor Enacts Law Extending Sign-Up For WTC-Related Benefits

Gives Clean-Up Participants Another Four Years To Enroll in Programs

  • By BOB HENNELLY
GOVERNOR CUOMO

The deadline for workers and volunteers to file a Notice of Participation in the World Trade Center 9/11 response and clean-up effort has been extended until Sept. 11, 2022 under legislation signed Sept. 7 by Governor Cuomo.

The deadline had been this Sept. 11.

 

The Notice of Participation is a prerequisite for applying for WTC-related disability and pension benefits. It can also be used to support applications for participation in the World Trade Center Health Program and the Department of Justice’s 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

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The Chief 9/17/18: Increase in WTC Illnesses Causes Concern Re: 9/11 Cash

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As WTC Illnesses Rise, Worry About VCF Cash

  • By BOB HENNELLY
TOO COMMON A SIGHT
TOO COMMON A SIGHT: Memorials like this recent one held at Fire Department headquarters have become more frequent in conjunction with a spike in the number of World Trade Center-related illnesses among first-responders who spent extensive time at the site after the terrorist attacks 17 years ago.

The dramatic spike in the volume of World Trade Center illnesses and claims has officials concerned that the $7.4-billion 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund may not have enough money to pay all of the valid claims it receives before it is slated to close in December 2020.

Both first-responders and individuals who lived or worked in lower Manhattan during the attack and clean-up are eligible to file a claim for both non-economic losses and lost income, depending on their circumstance.

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Daily News 9/11/18: Cuomo Calls For Expansion of 9/11 Victims’ Fund

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Gov. Cuomo calls on expansion of 9/11 victims fund amid concerns money could run out

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| new york daily news |
Sep 11, 2018 | 5:00 AM
Gov. Cuomo calls on expansion of 9/11 victims fund amid concerns money could run out
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo wants an expansion of the 9/11 Victim’s Fund. (Michael Dabin / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Gov. Cuomo called for a renewal and expansion of the 9/11 Victims Fund Monday following a Daily News report revealing that money meant to compensate people impacted by the terror attacks could run out sooner than expected.

“Some are suggesting that we dilute compensation to the next rounds of applicants due to diminution of funding. That is exactly the wrong approach. All are equally heroes to the nation, and all should be equally and fully funded,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“While significant funding is still available, it is critical that full funding is available for all who need it in the years to come, and I call on Congress to renew and expand the program. In New York, we will always stand with the victims of the attacks, and I will work with the New York delegation to lead the effort in ensuring that everyone receives the fair and ample compensation they deserve.”

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Daily News 9/11/18: Congress Must Continue 9/11 Victims’ Aid

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What we owe them now: Congress must continue 9/11 victims’ aid

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Sep 11, 2018 | 4:05 AM
What we owe them now: Congress must continue 9/11 victims' aid
Help them (Kris Connor For New York Daily News)

Not for a moment should anyone sick from exposure to the toxic stew at the World Trade Center on and following 9/11 have to worry about whether aid will be there for them.

But with $4.2 billion already spent on awards out of a $7.3 billion fund and more than 600 new claims filed a month, it’s almost certain that the vital WTC Victims Compensation Fund will run dry before all in need get aid — including an unknown number of recovery workers and others bound to eventually develop an insidious form of lung cancer that takes decades to appear.

 

Congress cannot, must not, leave those who worked under grueling conditions to seek survivors and recover remains at Ground Zero — who heeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s assurances at the time that airborne toxins posed no threat to health — to wither for want of will to see aid through until the job is done.

Nor should residents, workers and students whose world turned disaster zone be denied any rationed help they need now and into the future.

 

Ailing first responders hauled down to the Capitol repeatedly for more than a year urging renewal of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. It lapsed for months before Congress finally approved a five-year expansion at the end of 2015.

That can’t happen again. Well before the funds fall short, Congress needs to step up and make sure funding for victims’ compensation and health care remains in full force.

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Newsday 9/10/18: There is Still Help for Those Who Helped After 9/11

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There’s help for those who helped on 9/11

Fewer than 1,000 federal agents and other employees who worked at Ground Zero or whose offices were in the federal buildings that dot lower Manhattan have registered with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
The

The “Tribute in Light” rises above the skyline of lower Manhattan (pictured here from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade) for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Drew Angerer
By The Editorial Board

 

Among the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel who rushed to the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, were thousands of others who responded.

That includes about 3,500 federal law enforcement officers, such as Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, U.S. marshals and others. In the months that followed, thousands more federal workers helped at the smoldering pile and the surrounding area.

Since the terror attack, 15 FBI agents have died of 9/11-related illnesses. Three of them died since March.

And yet, fewer than 1,000 federal agents and other employees who worked at Ground Zero or whose offices were in the federal buildings that dot lower Manhattan have registered with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

USA Today 9/6/18: Deaths from Aftermath of 9/11 Will Soon Outnumber Deaths that Day

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Deaths from 9/11 diseases will soon outnumber those lost on that fateful day

USA Today Network, Rockland/Westchester Journal News Published 8:13 a.m. ET Sept. 6, 2018 | Updated 11:28 a.m. ET Sept. 6, 2018

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Seventeen years out from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, nearly 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer. More than 2,000 deaths have been attributed to 9/11 illnesses.

It will get worse. By the end of 2018, many expect that more people will have died from their toxic exposure from 9/11 than were killed on that terrible Tuesday.

“We’re nervous,” said Dr. Michael Crane, medical director of the World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai.

Robert Reeg of Stony Point, New York, knows the feeling. The retired Fire Department of New York firefighter was seriously injured in the South Tower collapse. In the last 17 years, he’s seen fellow first responders who survived the attacks fall victim to the illnesses caused by the contaminants that were spewed all over.

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NPR News 9/5/18: 9/11 Survivors Lobby for Reauthorization of the Victim Compensation Fund

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9/11 Survivors Lobby To Reauthorize Victim Compensation Fund

By • Sep 5, 2018

Comedian Jon Stewart stands behind retired FDNY firefighter and Sept. 11 first responder Ray Pfeifer after Pfeifer was given the key to New York City in 2016. Pfeifer passed away in 2017 from cancer related to his work at the World Trade Center site.

Comedian Jon Stewart stands behind retired FDNY firefighter and Sept. 11 first responder Ray Pfeifer after Pfeifer was given the key to New York City in 2016. Pfeifer passed away in 2017 from cancer related to his work at the World Trade Center site.Craig Ruttle / AP

9/11 responders and survivors will meet with FBI Director Christopher Wray at a public forum on Friday to discuss the fund that compensates those diagnosed with illnesses related to the attacks.

John Feal, a 9/11 survivor and panel participant, runs the Feal Good Foundation, an advocacy group for people with 9/11-related illnesses.

“These men in women, uniform or non-uniform, across the country or here in New York, they’re not making it up. They’re sick from their heroic actions or just living and working in the downtown area.”

At least a thousand people have died and almost 40,000 people have been diagnosed with 9/11-related illnesses. Congress established the Victim Compensation Fund in 2001 to help them. It closed in 2004, but was reauthorized in 2011. Authorization is set to expire in 2020.

The Victims Compensation Fund has paid more than $4 billion to first responders, recovery workers and residents.

“These men in women, uniform or non-uniform, across the country or here in New York, they’re not making it up. They’re sick from their heroic actions or just living and working in the downtown area.”

At least a thousand people have died and almost 40,000 people have been diagnosed with 9/11-related illnesses. Congress established the Victim Compensation Fund in 2001 to help them. It closed in 2004, but was reauthorized in 2011. Authorization is set to expire in 2020.

The Victims Compensation Fund has paid more than $4 billion to first responders, recovery workers and residents.