Ground Zero To Add Memorial For 9/11 Responders

TRIBECA, NY — A permanent memorial for the first responders and recovery workers who died in the wake of 9/11 will be added to Ground Zero, the governor announced this week.

Thousands of first responders and recovery workers have died in the years since 9/11, after contracting illnesses connected to the toxic ash and air they breathed in while responding to the terrorist attack. The toll of 9/11-related health crises has nearly matched the number of people killed in the attack itself, according to some experts.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, Memorial Day, that a permanent memorial for rescue and recovery workers would be added to the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan. Cuomo made the announcement with Michael Bloomberg, former NYC mayor and 9/11 Memorial Board Chair, and Jon Stewart, the former 'Daily Show' host and a member of the 9/11 Memorial Board. Cuomo did not release details about the planned memorial, but said its cost will by covered by state and by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum will organize the design and development of the new memorial.

Advocates have long called for greater support and recognition of the plight of first responders who contracted illnesses in the weeks and years after the attack. One of those advocates, John Feal, has painstakingly worked to keep personal records of all the first responders, recovery workers and local residents who are suffering from or have died from a 9/11-related illness.

"I am humbled and awed to play a small part in assisting the 9/11Memorial & Museum in ensuring history is never distorted and the plight of all 9/11 responders is told accurately," Feal said in a statement.

The data on those afflicted by 9/11-related illness is imperfect. According to 9/11 Health Watch, more than 77,000 first responders are participating in its World Trade Center Health Program. Among them, 6,000 people are battling 9/11-related cancer.

Cuomo's announcement came just one day after the death of Ray Pfeifer, a firefighter and first responder who was a fierce advocate for extending health care for responders and survivors of 9/11. His wife said he died of complications of cancers he contracted during the eight months he spent searching through the toxic rubble that remained of the World Trade Center.

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