Stewart, Gilly, lawyers talk 9/11 care
BY GABE HERMAN
Following the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
being permanently extended by the federal
government this summer, hundreds of Lower
Manhattan community members attended a Sept.
16 informational seminar to learn about access to
9/11-related healthcare. Speakers at the event included
offi cials and advocates, including Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand and comedian Jon Stewart.
The event was held at Borough of Manhattan
Community College, at 199 Chambers St., just
blocks away from the World Trade Center.
The law fi rm Barasch & McGarry, which represents
more than 15,000 people in the 9/11 community,
handed out informational packets on how
individuals — including residents, students and
anyone who was exposed to W.T.C. toxins — can
access full healthcare benefi ts for illnesses.
John Feal, a fi rst responder and advocate, emceed
the seminar. One of the points stressed at the
event was that healthcare benefi ts are for everyone
in the community, not just fi rst responders.
“No one owns 9/11,” Feal said. “We are all equal
shareholders.”
Gillibrand urged people to go to the healthcare
providers.
“It is really important that you know your rights,”
she said, stressing that people can contact her offi ce
for help navigating the World Trade Center Health
program. “We are here to serve you.”
Gillibrand said passing the V.C.F. was huge.
“It was the most important thing I’ve done as
your senator in the last decade,” she said.
Comedian Jon Stewart, who advocated for the
Victim Fund’s extension, told the audience that
Tribeca owes its current vibrancy to them and others
who stuck it out through the dark times.
“That wouldn’t have happened without the
courage of the survivors and students who stayed
here and didn’t allow this terrible act to drive them
from their homes,” he said of the neighborhood’s
vitality. “Your presence here was an act of courage
and resilience.
“Please, I urge you, access what you are owed,”
he told the audience. “Access the programs that
exist to help you get through this trying time in the
way you helped us get through that trying time.”
Other speakers included Dr. Jackie Moline of the
W.T.C. Health Program; Lila Nordstrom, a former
Stuyvesant High School student who runs the advocacy
group Students of 9/11; Richard Alles, a former
deputy chief in the New York Fire Department;
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza;Michael
Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of
Teachers; and Ellie Engler, the U.F.T. staff director
and a 9/11 cancer survivor.
B.M.C.C. professor Yvonne Phang was another
9/11 cancer survivor who spoke. She said she was
teaching there in October 2001 when the Environmental
Protection Agency said it was safe to return
to the area.
She said that 20,000 B.M.C.C. students and
3,000 staff were all exposed to the toxic dust.
Phang was diagnosed with breast cancer in October
2017. She didn’t have enough sick days to
cover her treatment period, and was on the verge
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
Hundreds of Lower Manhattan community members attended the free seminar at Borough
of Manhattan Community College.
PHOTO BY FAYE MURMAN / BARASCH & MCGARRY
Before the event began, from left, first responder
and emcee John Feal, Jon Stewart,
former F.D.N.Y. Deputy Chief Richard Alles
and attorney Michael Barasch gathered together
onstage.
of losing her job, when 20 faculty and staff donated
their sick leave to her. Because of that, she was able
to stay on the payroll and get months of treatment.
Phang said that, a year after her diagnosis, she
learned about the Victim Compensation Fund
through a friend.
“I was overjoyed when I found out there were
resources to help me,” Phang told the crowd. “I believe
this is now my turn to spread the news and
help others become aware of what resources are
available to them. After tonight, you can pass on
knowledge of resources to others. You can make a
difference.”
Attorney Michael Barasch noted that his fi rm has
been doing a lot of outreach lately to spread the word
about healthcare benefi ts.
“Every single day we hear from more survivors
because we’re doing this outreach,” he said. Other
outreach programs mentioned included ones by
B.M.C.C., New York Law School and the city’s Department
of Education, to reach out to as many people
as possible who were in the area post-9/11.
Barasch noted that the Lower Manhattan community
of survivors, at 300,000 people, makes up
three-quarters of the overall 9/11 community, with
fi rst responders comprising the other one-quarter.
However, of the 100,000 people in the W.T.C. Health
Program, just 20,000 are community-member survivors
while 80,000 are fi rst responders.
“Why? Because they know about the program,” he
said of fi rst responders.
Each informational packet passed out at the event
included an affi davit, which Barasch urged people to
fi le as proof they were in the area after 9/11.
“Get those affi davits signed right now and put
them away,” he said. “Don’t wait until you get sick.
Protect yourself now.”
He said that waiting years to get the affi davit fi lled
out could make it harder to fi nd the people who knew
they were in the area after 9/11.
“Last thing,” Barasch told the crowd, “is spread
the word to everyone you know.”
People can learn more about eligibility for the Victim
Fund at 911victims.com.
Schneps Media TVG September 19, 2019 19
/911victims.com
/911victims.com