In the News: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall

MR GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL
I never knew this was a piece of the Berlin Wall! It’s the 30th anniversary of its dismantling (yes, you are that old) and 6sqft has a tour of the souvenirs to be found in the city.

SEAPORT RESILIENCY EFFORTS DELAYED?
City Limits has an analysis of the city’s flood control plans for Lower Manhattan with concerns about timing and specifics: “The nearly mile-long stretch between Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Park remains up in the air in terms of planning, timeline, and funding, with a master plan only first set to be released in 2021. What the ultimate flood protection measures there will look like, and how much they’ll cost and who’ll pay for them, likely won’t be resolved until there’s a new administration in the White House, and likely City Hall as well.”

REZONING SOHO AND NOHO
The Commercial Observer analyzes the city’s plans to rezone Soho and Noho by changing the current manufacturing zoning and what that means for its streetscape: “As the city examines the neighborhood’s outdated zoning, it has opened up the possibility of legalizing residential and retail uses that have existed in the area for decades and paving the way for new development. It could radically alter Soho and Noho, which have some of the highest residential and retail rents in the city.”

TRACKING THE LOCAL CHILDREN OF 9/11
The Broadsheet reports that the Department of Education is partnering with the United Federation of Teachers union to track down former public school students who were pupils at Lower Manhattan schools on Sept. 11, 2001 (or in the months that followed) and informing them that their health may be at risk. The project will also seek to put these students in touch with the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. “Outreach to other communities of those affected by exposure to environmental toxins as a result of the terrorist attacks of September, 2001 — such as first responders and residents — has for years been proactive and aggressive. But there has been very little organized effort thus far to reach the population of onetime students, now grown into adults ranging from as young as 23 to as old as 36, who also might be facing life-threatening illness. In September, the DOE began mailing out the first of more than 19,000 letters to the last known addresses of students who attended schools such as P.S. 89, I.S. 289, P.S. 234, P.S. 150, and Stuyvesant High School, along with dozens of other elementary, middle, and high schools below Houston Street. (A total of 29 schools are believed to have been exposed to dangerous levels of toxins.)”

 

6 Comments

  1. You state in the article students could be as young as 23 where as they could have been s my son was in 2001 .

    • This is what the DOE said. I guess if you were 3 at the start of pre-k at 89 or 150 in 2001, about to turn four in the next three months, you could be 21?

  2. Every level of government lied to the people of Lower Manhattan after 9/11, as did publications like The NY Times. Getting Wall Street, and business, up and running was simply more important that people’s health.
    The two people who stood strong and told the truth were Juan Gonzalez, an award winning investigative journalist at the Daily News, and a female PhD scientist at the EPA who emailed invaluable scientific information and advice to people who contacted her. For which she was demoted. She sued, and got her job back.
    I may sound like a crank, but the many, many people who got sick after believing what they were told is proof that you should never, ever trust the government about environmental and health issues after a disaster.

    • Agree 100 percent. Displaced residents such as I were allowed one visit on Sept. 15 to 41 River Terr. (next door to Stuyvesant), which was in the frozen zone. We had about 20 min. to retrieve clothes, toss rotting food, and the like. Climbed 30-plus flight of stairs to find all apartment doors propped open. Some unidentified gov’t authority had placed mechanical air-sniffing devices in every apartment. The feds classified the results and declared the air safe. “Thanks” to Jerry Nadler, Chuck Schumer, Geo. Pataki, and Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg for doing nothing to bring the truth forward on this.

  3. Congressman Nadler did everything possible to get George Bush’s EPA to conduct scientifically valid sampling of downtown buildings as was required by Federal regulations in existence at the time. He fought, along side residents, area workers, community organizations, and labor representatives, for a proper cleanup of all affected buildings. Had he, and we, been able to secure a timely and proper cleanup, health effects resulting from long-term chronic exposures to WTC contaminants could have been avoided. To that end, he did all that was possible. Had it not been for his continuing efforts neither residents, school children, or those who worked in the area would be eligible for the federally sponsored WTC Health Program or the Victim’s Compensation Fund. Without his efforts, those programs would have been open only Toto Responders.

    • No, Nadler didn’t then and hasn’t since, nor have any of the others involved. Gov’t handouts are no substitute for years of life. The results from the EPA’s classified air sampling remain inaccessible to those affected. As important, they are inaccessible to the researchers and doctors who might use it to better treat the thousands more who will die from 9/11 exposure-related conditions, and the thousands who have died. He and Schumer have held high office throughout. Their constituents are more affected than any. Pataki, Giuliani, Bloomberg, et al. also get their share of responsibility.

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