Wtc News

[E40FDNYL35]

NEW YORK, September 4, 2008 -- Family of former FDNY firefighter battling Multiple Myeloma makes urgent plea for public help. Firefighter Roy Chelsen battled bravely for us on September 11, 2001 -- but now he is gravely ill and desperately needs our help. Chelsen, then a member of the FDNY Engine Company #28 on September 11, 2001 -- was among the first firefighters to respond to the terror attacks at The World Trade Center, and helped save many lives. But for the last three years, Roy Chelsen has been battling multiple myeloma, an aggressive bone marrow cancer. He has undergone chemotherapy treatments, surgery and numerous transfusion therapies. Now after one year in remission, Chelsen needs a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor to save his own life. Born in Brooklyn, Roy Chelsen and his immediate family lived in Staten Island before settling in Warwick, Orange County, NY. He is 48 year old and married, with one son.
We are asking that everyone -- from friends, residents, blood donors, and members of the FDNY, NYPD and the Port Authority to please step out and give blood in support of retired firefighter Roy Chelsen. Bone marrow cancer patients require blood transfusions because treatment kills both cancer cells and healthy, blood-forming cells. People can donate blood at the following drives, or at their nearest location by calling 1-800-933-2566, or by visiting www.nybloodcenter.org. To find out if you are a potential bone marrow match for Roy Chelsen, you must register with the National Marrow Donor Program at the sites listed below. This one-time registration is free. A swab will be taken of the inside of your mouth.
Blood and Bone Marrow Drives for Roy Chelsen
New York City Fire Department - Engine 28 / Ladder 11
Friday, September 5, 2008 9:00 am - 8:30 pm
222 East 2nd Street, New York, NY
Warwick Fire Department Goodwill Hook & Ladder Company Ladies Auxiliary
Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Church Street Extension, Warwick, NY
Westerleigh Community Blood Drive at Zion Lutheran Church
Saturday, September 20, 2008 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
505 Watchogue Road, Staten Island, NY
Each donated pint of blood can save as many as three lives. All donors receive free mini-medical exams on site and information about their temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure and hemoglobin level. Eligible donors include those people at least age 16 with parental consent (in NY) or 17 (in NJ), who weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, are in good health and meet all Food & Drug Administration and NY or NJ State Department of Health donor criteria. Inquiries are also welcomed from organizations who would like to schedule a blood drive.
New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. NYBC has been providing blood, transfusion products and services to patients in greater New York since 1964. NYBC is also home to the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute and the National Cord Blood Program at the Howard P. Milstein National Cord Blood Center, the world's largest public cord blood bank. NYBC provides medical services and programs (Clinical, Transfusion, and Hemophilia Services) through our medical professionals and transfusion medicine physicians.
NYC Contact: Leslie Gonzalez
(212) 570-3034 CELL: (646) 342-3038
lgonzalez2@nybloodcenter.org
Orange County, NY: Lanette Perez-Villarroel
(914) 784-4635 CELL: (646) 739-1852
lperez-villarroel@nybloodcenter.org
Brookyn/Staten Island: Ellen Kramer
(718) 797-7808
ekramer@nybloodcenter.org
SOURCE New York Blood Center
http://www.nybloodcenter.org

[RspctFrmCalgary]

September 4, 2008-- After Kenny Johannemann shot himself, relatives found a letter on White House stationery in the one-room apartment he shared only with his cat.

October 31, 2001
Dear Kenny,
We send you our heartfelt thanks and the thanks of a grateful Nation for your selfless efforts in responding to the tragic events of Sept. 11. Your actions in the midst of this national tragedy were truly heroic. Your saving a man who was on fire by dragging him out of an elevator and getting him to an ambulance reflected the best of the American spirit.

Sincerely,
George Bush and Laura Bush

Johannemann was a part-time janitor assigned to clean rest rooms in the north tower on 9/11 and was, indeed, credited with saving a man. His family says that day changed him, that he became withdrawn and began drinking heavily, falling in and out of work. Twelve days before the seventh anniversary of the day he saved a life, Johannemann took his own. The police then vouchered another letter, the suicide note the 43-year-old wrote on Sunday afternoon, shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline his landlord had set for him to vacate for nonpayment of rent.

"The reason I killed myself was 'cause I was getting evicted and I can't handle being homeless. I also am very depressed since I was in 9/11. I've been drinking way too much and it's ruined my life. I've lost friends and family over drinking and I'm very lonely. There is nothing left for me to be happy about other than my cat. Sounds weird, but it's true. I just wanted to say sorry 2 any people I ever hurt in my life. I really was a good person when I wasn't drinking. I hope people remember that!

Goodbye!!!

Kenny Johannemann"

On a separate sheet was a plea: "Please find my cat a home. His name is Papa-Boy and he's a very special cat." The police brought Papa-Boy to the 122nd Precinct stationhouse on Staten Island. The tabby was trembling when one of Johannemann's cousins, Gerald Maya, picked him up. Maya also collected Johannemann's cell phone. He dialed every number in it to pass on the tragic news. "Everybody I called on his cell phone said, 'I would have given him the money. The guy was beautiful.'" Maya said Wednesday. "Nothing bad on this man." Maya had offered Johannemann a place to stay, as had another cousin who lived nearby. Johannemann had declined. "I really can't tell you why," Maya said. The other cousin, Joseph Maya, spoke of the Johannemann before 9/11; a man who seemed content in his work and who delighted in his extended family. "He had a job and he was happy," Joseph Maya said. Johannemann often said he might have been killed on 9/11 had he not stopped to get a cup of coffee just before the plane hit. Otherwise, he might have been on an elevator when a jet crashed and flaming fuel poured down the shaft. Instead, he was waiting for an elevator when he heard a huge bang and the doors burst open. A man tumbled out on fire and Johannemann helped him to an ambulance. "He was burned up bad but he was still alive," Johannemann told People magazine. In the aftermath, Johannemann appeared on the "Jenny Jones Show" and received the letter from the White House. Privately, the hero became a reclusive alcoholic. "He just started backing away and not bothering with anyone," Joseph Maya recalled. He avoided family, even on the holidays he had always loved. He seemed convinced he was friendless and alone. "He said he had nobody, but meanwhile everybody loved him," Joseph Maya said. In May, he moved into a single room on Rome Ave. He landed a job as a custodian at a Manhattan museum two weeks ago, but he had fallen two months behind on his rent. The landlord, Anthony Mallazzi, told him to be out by 5 p.m. Sunday. As the deadline neared, one of Mallazzi's sons heard a sound like a popping paper bag. Mallazzi arrived home soon afterward and went to see if his tenant had moved out. The door was open. "I said, 'Kenny? Kenny?'" Mallazzi recalled. Mallazzi entered and saw Johannemann. Nearby lay the two letters, the one on White House stationery and the suicide note. "He was a 9/11 hero," Mallazzi said Wednesday. "He saved a person on 9/11." Mallazzi paused. "Who the hell's to blame?" Mallazzi said. "I feel a little guilty. Everybody feels a little guilty." On Wednesday, Johannemann was waked at a Brooklyn funeral home. Papa-Boy was at the cousin's house, cowering in corners, but beginning to venture out. "At least he stopped shaking," Gerald Maya said.

Well, that was rather heart-wrenching.

Rest peacefully in the arms of the angels, Kenny. I hope it was a comfort to you to be lovingly welcomed Home by those who went before you.

[Dickey]

Geez....that story sucked big time. The sad part is, there have been lots of stories just like that, and will be more from that day. Very sad indeed. Stories like that make me so mad I just want to start tipping stuff over.
RIP Kenny, we all know you did a wonderful thing, thank you!

I would love to give a pint of my blood if I could figure out how to freeze it or something and ship it UPS!!



Oh, and Ray.....thank you sooo much for giving the rest of the world these updates like this. God knows the national news wouldn't do it. Thanks to you, we are all a little more enlightened. Thank you!

[E40FDNYL35]

As the seventh anniversary of the 9-11-01, the World Trade Center Medical Working Group of New York City on Thursday released the first of planned annual reports related to the aftermath of the attacks. The group reported that more than 10,500 of the rescue and recovery personnel have received federally funded treatment for physical conditions. More than 5,500 workers on the site have received federally funded treatment for mental health conditions, and thousands more have been treated privately. And more than 2,700 people have sought treatment at New York City public hospitals for similar physical and mental conditions. It is not yet known how many deaths can be directly attributed to exposure, but the WTC Responder Fatality Investigation program has identified more than 360 deaths so far among responders and volunteers.

- - -

5% -- Percentage of New York City firefighters with respiratory problems before 9/11

25% --Percentage with respiratory problems two to four years later

SOURCE: 2008 Annual Report on 9/11 Health by the World Trade Center Medical Working Group of New York City

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Very sobering numbers ....

[E40FDNYL35]

FYI

September 11, 2008 -- At least 664 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 - including over 200 city firefighters, medics and city cops a state researcher says. A review of 224 death certificates so far has found 168 died of illnesses, including 94 from cancer, according to the state Health Department's WTC Responder Fatalities Investigation. Researchers have not yet analyzed whether the deaths are linked to Ground Zero. Also yesterday, the city Health Department reported that up to 70,000 people have developed posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of the terror strikes,

9-11-01 EVERYDAY

[dave29]

[MaryJane69]

E40FDNYL35 thanks for your continued updates on this thread. For all of us who read them it is nice to know whats happening with trade center related issues.

This is a very sobering time, around the anniversary. I remembered yesterday. I went to church. I was there at the times that the towers fell. I lit a candle and my thoughts were with New York and those left behind, all day. I have a great deal of compassion and feel some degree of pain for those who still suffer as a result 9/11.
xxx

[E40FDNYL35]

September 28, 2008 -- Construction workers at the World Trade Center site are under observation by a team of headshrinkers. The Port Authority is spending $300,000 on the psychologists from nonprofit crisis-management company LifeMatters. The therapists will watch hardhats at the construction site to "make the site as safe as it can possibly be" and "stop accidents before they start," said WTC-site safety director Joe Schwed, who was appointed in February. Two counselors will roam the 16-acre site searching for odd and potentially unsafe behavior among the 700 workers. If they see anything strange, they will speak to the workers to assess the problems and make sure they get help. Workers will also be asked to report out-of-character behavior among their colleagues to the counselors, who will have offices at the site. "If you're working with a co-worker who is quiet, shy and doesn't talk much, and the next day they're acting very jovial and loud, and you know there's a change in their behavior, you can go somewhere and say, 'Hey, John is acting a little funny,' " Schwed said. The PA said the counselors have been on site for two weeks but their real work had not yet begun. Most workers and union officials were unaware of the program when interviewed Friday by The Post. One union source said he's concerned the program is a veiled crackdown - a "Big Brother" effort to root out drinking, smoking or slacking off on the job. "[Drinking] is something that's been talked about a lot in meetings about work down there," he said. "When the Port Authority says they're looking for workers who 'aren't right,' what else can that mean?" Another worker, who said he's seen few problems on the job, believes that now, "Everybody will be afraid that if they say something wrong, they'll lose their job." A carpenter, though, said some tradesmen on site have had some trouble. "They had brothers who were with the FDNY or were cops. So, yeah, they get emotional," he said. Schwed said the counseling outreach is geared only toward safety. "When something can potentially affect the site, we address it," he said. "Smoking and drinking are two that could." Workers are also being watched across the street, at the Deutsche Bank site, where two firefighters were killed in an August 2007 blaze sparked possibly by a cigarette. Hardhats there are scrutinized by an army of inspectors, and have been subjected to random drug and alcohol testing, warrant searches, and stringent smoking rules. Earlier this month, three workers at the site were arrested after inspectors found they had open warrants for failing to appear in court on alcohol-related charges. In addition to patrolling the WTC site and counseling workers, the psychologists will train every new employee in crisis management, so they can handle emergencies and "remain resilient" after them, Schwed said. The plan is not a reaction to any one incident, Schwed said. No construction workers have died at the World Trade Center site during the rebuilding. The last serious accident occurred in May 2007, when a 26-year-old worker was hit in the head and upper torso with a hose and put into a coma. Other incidents include an iron worker who tripped and broke his ankle, and a Port Authority worker who fell off a ladder and hurt his hand, both in June 2007.

[E40FDNYL35]

October 2, 2008 -- The price of delivering the World Trade Center memorial in time for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks will be an extra $75 million, officials revealed Thursday. Unveiling a battle plan of construction deadlines and costs, the Port Authority admitted just about everything will be behind schedule - and cost a lot more. One of the reasons for the higher costs is the agency's determination to open some sort of memorial by the Sept. 11, 2011 anniversary. Last June the Port Authority predicted the memorial wouldn't open until 2013, infuriating families of some of the victims and various politicians who demanded it open in time for the 10th anniversary. What will open on time will be bare bones, consisting of the two signature waterfalls marking the old Trade Center's footprints and a parapet where the names of the victims will not yet be inscribed, the new report says. Plus there will be "some landscaping" and "early-stage construction" of the planned museum visitor's center. Port Authority President Chris Ward made it clear that while the memorial will be open, it will essentially be surrounded by ongoing construction that will peak in the second quarter of 2011. "Even though the memorial will be open on Sept. 11, 2011, the WTC site will still be a construction site," he warned, promising an "operations strategy" to ensure "safe access" to the site during ongoing work. To make this happen, the Port Authority will first build the roof of a planned transportation hub upon which the memorial rests. The rest of the hub will come later. That will cost $75 million extra in "loss of hub construction productivity" and "additional construction for the deck," the report reveals. The rush to open a memorial - any memorial - by the 10th anniversary will help push the total cost of the transportation hub from $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion. That's in addition to the cost of the highest building at the site, the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, which will rise from $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion. And the underground vehicle security center - a crucial element to ensure the safety of the highly symbolic site -- will jump from $478 million to $633 million, the report states.

[E40FDNYL35]

October 4, 2008 -- The owners of Ground Zero have launched a Web site to publicize the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, a day after saying many projects under way would be delayed and cost more. The Port Authority yesterday launched http://www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress/index.html The site has photographs and video of construction projects at the 16-acre site, and offers a guide for tourists who visit Ground Zero. The agency also lists the milestones it says it will meet to build a $3.2 billion transit hub, a memorial and the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower at the site.

[E40FDNYL35]

October 28, 2008 -- Citing a simplified design and an innovative building approach, the Port Authority unveiled a new plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, including a pledge to have a 9/11/01 memorial open on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. "We're taking on this exercise as a solemn responsibility," said Chris Ward, Port Authority executive director. Combining the erection of the memorial with the construction of the WTC Transportation Hub will speed the memorial's completion, Ward said. By building the transit hub's roof first, designers will then use the roof as the floor of the Memorial Plaza, he said. The memorial will include the inscribed names of victims of the September 11 attacks and the Feb. 26, 1993, attack. "Life is risky, but we will manage the risk and the public can hold us accountable," Ward said during a Port Authority board meeting this morning in Manhattan. Construction at the 16-acre site has suffered from delays and increasing costs. A report released Thursday is supposed to provide a road map for trimmed building costs and realistic completion dates. Other highlights include completion of the Transit Hub between late 2013 and mid-2014. The new cost is $3.2 billion, up from $2.2 billion.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Thanks for the update, Ray.

[E40FDNYL35]

January 30, 2009 -- The World Trade Center Memorial will be open to the public by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks - and it will remain open afterward, even as construction continues on the project, officials said yesterday. In his strongest words to date, Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward told a state Assembly hearing on the World Trade Center that the opening of the memorial by the 2011 anniversary wouldn't be just a one-day event, as had been feared. "The memorial will remain open to some form of public access," Ward said. Key components of the memorial - the plaza, reflecting pools, waterfalls and parapets with the names of victims inscribed - will be in place, Ward said. The amount of landscaping will depend on how much construction remains.

[E40FDNYL35]

January 31, 2009 -- The last thing Ground Zero needs is a sorry-looking pair of stumpy low-slung buildings where chi-chi retail chains would peddle jewels, jeans and lingerie to tourists. That was the emotionally charged verdict of 9/11/01 families Friday on a Port Authority plan to erect temporary stump-like structures in place of two of the towers long planned for the World Trade Center site. "It's a national embarrassment," said Rosaleen Tallon, a biology teacher whose brother Sean, a 26-year-old probationary firefighter, died in the collapse of the north tower. "Rebuilding towers at the site was supposed to make a powerful statement of our grand resolve. Building chintzy, second-rate placeholders to sell retail goods makes a very different kind of statement." With jobs vanishing, financing frozen and real estate in crisis, the authority is mulling putting up twin pedestals as stand-ins until the economy rebounds. The specter of retail development pods rising two to six stories along Church St. - instead of a 79-story skyscraper and a 71-story tower - outraged people who lost loved ones on 9/11/01. "It sounds like a plan to build a shopping mall on my son's cemetery," said retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, who lost his 29-year-old firefighter son, Jimmy Jr., in the north tower. "It's crass and offensive." Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian, a probationary firefighter, perished on Sept. 11, said the Port Authority seems more concerned about out-of-town shoppers than New York victims. "What's next?" Regenhard asked. "McDonald's? Wal-Mart?" Though the option of placing pedestals on sites where developer Larry Silverstein plans to build his towers was disclosed by PA Executive Director Chris Ward, agency brass insisted yesterday the master plan for the 16-acre site had not been altered. "All of this is completely speculative," said Stephen Sigmund, the authority's chief spokesman. "The point we were making is our commitment to not leave holes in the ground - no matter what the state of the local and national economy."

[RspctFrmCalgary]

That's just inconceivable.

[E40FDNYL35]

March 19, 2009 -- New York -- Members of the City’s Uniformed Services outraged by the City of New York’s attempt to dismiss their claims for injuries suffered at the World Trade Center site following 9/11 have scheduled a press conference to be held on the steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan on Thursday, March 19, at noon. Famed Civil Rights attorney and public advocate Norman Siegel will speak, along with Jack McDonald, who is the President of the Uniformed Fire Fighters Association and other notable police officers and firefighters. Also appearing will be Marc Jay Bern, one of the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel for the pending actions in the Federal Court.

The Bloomberg administration is attempting to have a United States Federal judge dismiss all claims of illness and injury sustained by uniformed services personnel as a result of their exposure to toxic materials during the rescue and recovery efforts after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The City’s filing is directed specifically against the claims of New York’s first responders, i.e., police officers (NYPD and Port Authority Police), firefighters and emergency medical technicians employed by the FDNY, on claims that the basic workplace protections mandated by New York’s Labor Laws and extended to NYPD and FDNY members by the General Municipal Law do not extend to the uniformed services personnel who were stationed at the World Trade Center site for rescue, recovery and debris removal operations following the 9/11 attacks. Simply put, the City contends that the statutes requiring that those performing debris removal be provided with personal protective equipment, including respirators, simply do not apply to FDNY and NYPD members who worked at the World Trade Center Site.

The bid for dismissal comes shortly after the Court hearing the cases began a new effort to resolve them. Less than one week earlier, the Honorable Alvin K. Hellerstein, the judge presiding over more than 10,000 World Trade Center cases, announced an aggressive plan for the trials of the most critically injured first responders, paving the way toward a global settlement. In his decision, Judge Hellerstein wrote that “a basis for settlement or valuation by trial should prompt resolution of all such severe cases.” A March 2, 2009 editorial in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS praised Hellerstein’s new program as “a magnificent exercise in case management and a powerful mechanism for forcing settlements” after over seven years of court battles.

The City’s latest effort to deprive injured police and firefighters of compensation also comes less than a year after a federal appeals court denied its earlier motion to dismiss all of the World Trade Center responders’ claims. Judge Hellerstein, who first denied that motion, admonished the defendants not to engage “in endless stratagems of motions and delays,” warning that “the availability of a billion dollar fund authorized by Congress should not serve as an encouragement to lengthen and complicate these proceedings.”

In February 2003, Congress appropriated $1 billion to the City to insure injury claims arising from debris removal. In announcing the passage of the legislation, Mayor Bloomberg explained, "This legislation is necessary for the City to expedite the payment of claims relating to this effort" To date, not one of the approximately 10,000 World Trade Center respiratory claims has settled; however, City attorneys Patton Boggs have been paid in excess of $100 million in legal fees, taken from the $1 billion dollar federal fund.

The First Responders find these arguments a callous and morally reprehensible attempt to deprive them of basic workplace protections and worse, to question the validity of their debilitating and – in some cases – life threatening illnesses. The motions seek to deprive them of their right to the same workplace protections afforded not only to persons employed on construction and demolition sites, but also to any person “lawfully frequenting” such worksites under, among other things, section 200 of the State Labor Law and the General Municipal Law provisions that extend the right to seek redress for injuries to the uniformed services.

In the days and weeks after 9/11, FDNY firefighters, NYPD and Port Authority police officers and emergency medical technicians responded valiantly and without regard for their own personal safety to rescue and recover as many of their fellow citizens and brother firefighters and police officers as they could find. Seven and a half years later, that very dangerous work in an environment fraught with toxic gases and particulate matter has rendered thousands of those first responders desperately ill and in many cases unable to work.

[MalahatTwo7]

I have to ask the 100 million dollar question:

What did

City attorneys Patton Boggs have been paid in excess of $100 million in legal fees, taken from the $1 billion dollar federal fund.

do to "earn" his 100 mil?

[MaryJane69]

I have to ask the 100 million dollar question:

What did
do to "earn" his 100 mil?

I don't know. I think the first responders have earned the city attorneys fee just by doing their job. Maybe that's why the city doesn't want to pay up, too many hands to put bucks in and not enough bucks to go round. If the city paid the first responders their due it would end up broke!
Seriously, I hope you guys win this fight. (We all do!)
Maybe we should take up a collection. You'd probably get money faster that way.

[Dickey]

I have to ask the 100 million dollar question:

What did
do to "earn" his 100 mil?

$100 million in 7 years? He works for the City correct? or is he a contract service NYC pays to work for them?

Still.....$100 million in 7 years? Is he a "professional" sports player??