Feds extend 9/11 Victims Fund
BY GABE HERMAN
The 9/11 Victims Compensation
Fund has been permanently
funded by the federal government,
after money began to dwindle
earlier this year and advocates went to
Congress to pressure lawmakers.
The bill’s full name — The Never Forget
the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer
and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization
of the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund — honors three
fi rst responders who died from 9/11-related
illnesses. It was offi cially signed
into law by President Trump on July 29.
The previous deadline to fi le claims
with the V.C.F. was Dec. 18, 2020, but
the bill now extends that through Oct.
1, 2090. It’s estimated the fund’s extension
will cost around $10 billion over
the next 10 years, according to the Congressional
Budget Offi ce.
This past February, the head of the
V.C.F., Special Master Rupa Bhattacharyya,
said that payouts for claims would
be cut by as much as 70 percent because
of a shortfall in funds and an increase
in claims.
After the funds were permanently extended
on July 29, Bhattacharyya wrote,
in a statement, “This is a momentous
occasion for the V.C.F. and the 9/11
community, and I am extremely grateful
for this show of confi dence from Congress
First responders and recovery workers who were in the rubble of
Ground Zero worked in a toxic stew of carcinogenic chemicals.
and the President. The enactment
of this Act is also a testament to the heroic
efforts of the responders, survivors
and advocates who tirelessly pursued
this legislation, and without whom we
would not be able to continue the vital
work we do.”
The legislation passed the Senate on
July 23 by a 97-to-2 vote, with only Republican
Senators Mike Lee of Utah and
COURTESY JASON SCOTT
Rand Paul of Kentucky voting against it.
Both Lee and Paul had an amendment
to the bill defeated, with the former
wanting authorization for only 10 years
and the latter wanting spending for the
9/11 fund to be offset by other government
cuts.
After the Senate approved the bill,
comedian Jon Stewart, who advocated
alongside fi rst responders for the funding,
said, “We can never repay all that
the 9/11 community has done for our
country, but we can stop penalizing
them. And today is that day they can
exhale.”
The former “Daily Show” host added
that suffering will continue for 9/11
fi rst responders, but said, “I’m hopeful
that today begins the process of being
able to heal without the burden of having
to advocate.”
Before the House passed the bill earlier
in July, Stewart spoke passionately
before the chamber about the need for
funds and chastised many lawmakers
for seemingly not caring enough about
the issue.
Gravely ill, fi rst responder Luis Alvarez,
a retired Bomb Squad detective with
the New York Police Department, also
addressed Congress. He died less than
three weeks later, at age 53, from cancer
linked to his time at Ground Zero. His
name was added to the bill’s title.
“Passing this legislation, there’s no
joy, there’s no comfort,” said fi rst responder
and advocate John Feal after
the Senate’s vote on July 23. “Yes, I
cried with Jon Stewart, but that was to
exhale, that was to get 18 years of pain
and suffering out.”
Feal noted he wasn’t going to miss
anything about Washington, D.C.
“Hopefully,” he said, “we don’t have
to come back.”
‘Green Wave’ will boost bike safety: Mayor
BY GABE HERMAN
As the grim tally of bicyclist
deaths in the city this year continues
to rise, city offi cials have
been implementing and proposing new
rules aimed at creating a better biking
infrastructure.
There have been 18 cyclist deaths
in the city so far in 2019, compared to
10 deaths in all of 2018. In response,
Mayor de Blasio announced on July 25
a strategy called Green Wave: A Plan
for Cycling in New York City.
The Green Wave plan has been allocated
$58.4 million in city funding
for the next fi ve years. The initiative
includes adding 30 miles of protected
bike lanes every year. Fifty intersections
will get “turn-calming treatments” to
slow down drivers.
The plan also calls for police enforcement
to increase at 100 of the
most dangerous intersections, based
on crash data, with a focus on risky
actions, like speeding, failure to yield,
blocking bike lanes and trucks that are
oversized or off route.
There will be a continuation of Operation
Bicycle Safe Passage, which
was announced as a temporary action
for early July and included many of the
enforcement policies mentioned above.
According to the city, in July’s fi rst three
weeks, police doubled enforcement
against cars parked in bicycle lanes, issuing
more than 8,600 summonses.
Police will also send supervisors to
crash sites to investigate if right-of-way
laws should be applied, and cyclists will
no longer be ticketed at sites of fatal
bike crashes.
The mayor’s plan also includes the
Department of Transportation installing
2,000 bicycle parking spaces annually
in the city by using bike corrals.
D.O.T. will also put out a request for
expressions of interest, or R.F.E.I., to
get ideas for a new high-capacity parking
system for bikes.
The mayor also said there will be a
focus on implementing a law recently
passed by the City Council that lets
cyclists ride on pedestrian signals and
gives them a head start at thousands of
intersections across the city.
In addition, de Blasio said he would
work with Council Speaker Corey
Johnson and councilmembers on other
bills, including requiring a 3-foot passing
distance between cars and bicycles.
“When we came into offi ce, we
promised New Yorkers we’d do everything
we could to end traffi c fatalities,”
the mayor said at the plan’s announcement.
“No loss of life on our streets is
acceptable. With a dangerous surge in
cyclist fatalities, we have to keep pushing
the envelope and increasing our
efforts. That’s what this plan is about.
It’s a continuation of our promise. This
time, specifi cally to bikers.”
Several local politicians were supportive
of the mayor’s new plan.
“I’m grateful to Mayor de Blasio for
building on his commitment to Vision
Zero with today’s investments,” said
state Senator Brad Hoylman. “With
bike ridership set to increase even more
dramatically in the coming years, these
new measures and protections could
not come soon enough.”
“New Yorkers deserve safer streets,”
said Borough President Gale Brewer.
“The uptick in cyclist fatalities this year
is unacceptable, and I’m glad the administration
is taking steps to prevent
future incidents.”
Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez,
whose 10th District includes Upper
Manhattan, and who chairs the Council’s
Transportation Committee, said
even more must be done. While it’s
good to add 30 miles of protected bike
lanes every year, he said, “we should be
aiming to have 100 miles of protected
bike lanes a year.”
Speaker Johnson, whose West Side
district includes Chelsea, the West Village
and Hell’s Kitchen, introduced
legislation in May requiring at least
50 miles of protected bike lanes to be
added each year, along with at least 30
miles of new bus lanes each year that
are separated from other traffi c.
Meanwhile, a list has been compiled
of the 10 most dangerous intersections
in the city for bicyclists, with several of
them in Lower Manhattan. The rankings
are from localize.city, which used
data from 2014 to 2018 on bicycle injuries
and deaths.
The city’s most dangerous intersection,
according to the list, is in Chelsea
at Sixth Ave. and W. 23rd St., where
bike messenger Robyn Hightman, 20,
died in June after being hit by a truck.
Third Ave. and E. 14th St. was found
to be the city’s fourth-worst intersection
for cyclists. Others in Lower Manhattan
on the top-10 dangerous list for
bikers included two spots on the Lower
East Side, at Chrystie and Delancey
Sts., and at Allen and E. Houston Sts.
6 August 8, 2019 TVG Schneps Media