Queens pols: Fully fund 9/11 health bill
Urge Congress to ‘never forget’ Ground Zero workers now suffering from related illnesses
BY BILL PARRY
Just before the 17th
anniversary of the conclusion
of recovery operations
at Ground Zero, City
Councilman I. Daneek Miller,
Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney and advocates called
on Congress May 29 to pass the
permanent authorization of the
Sept. 11 Victim Compensation
Fund Act which will expire
next year.
Gathered across from the
9/11 Memorial & Museum in
Lower Manhattan, attendees
at the rally demanded
full financing of the VCF
through 2090.
“The notion that the 9/11
Victim Compensation Fund
could one day cease to exist is
unimaginable,” Miller said.
“The escalating crisis of sick
and injuries seeking help
through the VCF to address
their health needs have grown
beyond the program’s capacity
and must be resolved quickly
and definitively. We proudly
lend our support towards
this initiative to provide
every afflicted responder
and survivor the peace of
mind they rightly deserve, as
they bravely face the many
challenges ahead.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney joins City Councilman I. Daneek Miller at a rally calling on Congress
to extend and fully fund the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
Photo courtesy of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
More than 2,000 active
FDNY personnel and nearly
1,000 members of the NYPD
have been forced into early
retirement due to debilitating
9/11 illnesses, and close to
400 of them have died from
illnesses linked to their work
on “the pile” at Ground Zero.
“On Sept. 11, 2001, our
nation lost 2,997 people, but
soon deaths from 9/11-related
illnesses may outnumber
those who were killed on
that horrific day,” Maloney
said. “We vowed to never
forget the first responders,
survivors and families who
risked their lives and made
incredible sacrifices for our
country. Congress passed the
9/11 Health and Compensation
Act that I authored to cover
health care and provide
compensation to those made
ill by the toxic materials
released when the towers fell.
While we need to make the
health care permanent, the
compensation fund is running
out of funds. We need to make
sure these heroes never have
to go without the support
they need.”
The bill has earned
bipartisan support of more
than 330 congressional
officials and is scheduled to
be heard next month by the
House Judiciary Committee.
John Feal, a 9/11 activist
and first responder at Ground
Zero, who has led survivors on
lobbying missions on Capitol
Hill for years, says the 2090
date would cover the expected
life expectancy of survivors
if their health needs are met
with the bill.
“Passing this bill will
mean that we no longer need
to go to the nation’s capitol to
request assistance on behalf
of 9/11 first responders and
survivors,” Feal said.
Overall, the rate of
responders and survivors
who have become sick or died
has surged since 2004 as their
bodies are ruined by cancer,
asthma, and gastrointestinal
illnesses. These responders
and survivors are spread
across the country with over
95,000 living in all 50 states.
Comrie seeks overhaul of Mitchell-Lama housing apps
BY MAX PARROTT
State Senator Leroy Comrie
recently introduced a law that
would establish an automated
system for applications to
Mitchell-Lama housing and
develop a written application
process for the program.
With the bill, Comrie hopes
to combat inconsistencies
within the application process
for the housing program
aimed at moderate-income
families. The senator’s focus
on Mitchell-Lama housing
comes at a tipping point for
affordable housing in the state
as the legislature considers
a nine-bill “universal rent
control” package that Comrie
has not fully supported.
In 2015, State Comptroller
Thomas DiNapoli’s audit of
the Housing Preservation
and Development studied four
individual Mitchell-Lama
developments and found
that there were substantial
discrepancies in how units
were awarded and how waiting
lists were maintained.
The agency did not always
offer units to tenants in the
order they were listed, and
the comptroller’s office found
occupants who were not
submitted for approval. The
study concluded that the HPD
was not monitoring the lottery
process sufficiently.
Comrie cited the Mitchell-
Lama program early this
month as a pillar of his vision
for addressing the city’s loss
of rent-stabilized apartments.
“We need to be able to create
an affordable program. We
need to be able to incentivize
folks to want to maintain
their buildings. We need to
recreate a Mitchell-Lama
housing program,” Comrie
told QNS recently when
asked about his hesitancy
to sign on to all nine of the
State Senator Leroy Comrie Photo via nysenate.gov
rent control bills.
Comrie’s bill would codify
reforms to this system and
standardize the processes
by which units are awarded,
applications are rejected,
and waiting lists are
maintained in the program’s
lottery system.
He sees the Mitchell-
Lama’s central difficulty
with maintaining lists and
awarding apartments as a
result of the fact that it is
done, by and large, manually.
So the bill would also require
that this information is made
available to the public online
and that the procedures for
maintaining waiting lists
and selecting tenants are
fully automated.
The clock is running
down on the “universal rent
control” package of bills that
will require a vote in the
legislature before New York
state’s rent control laws expire
on June 15.
While Comrie is a holdout
on seven of the bills, which
he worries could overburden
small and minority
landlords, the bill suggests
a path towards affordable
housing reform that Comrie
finds agreeable.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by email at mparrott@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 224-5863, ext. 226.
4 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 7-13, 2019 QNS.COM
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