Ground Zero

May 31, 2022 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the end of the cleanup at the World Trade Center site. Ground Zero burned for more than eight months after 9/11, as more than 100,000 union responders conducted search-and-rescue and recovery operations, starting New York City on the difficult and heroic path to recovery. These responders’  […]

A 9/11 memorial wall in Nesconset, New York will now bear the names of those with 9/11-related illnesses who have died of COVID-19. The granite wall at 9/11 Responders Remembered Memorial Park currently lists the names of more than 1,500 heroes who died of illnesses they contracted due to breathing in toxins at Ground Zero. […]

In the aftermath of September 11, some New Yorkers wore masks as worry began to spread about the dust hanging in the air in the areas around Ground Zero. In the years following the attacks, we found out that people were right to be worried, as more and more survivors developed respiratory problems and cancers […]

After more than half a year of trying to understand and battle the coronavirus pandemic, we know that COVID-19 infects people of all ages and backgrounds, with the elderly being exceptionally vulnerable. The heroes of 9/11 face heightened risk from the virus due to underlying health problems dating back to that fateful day. “9/11 made […]

Thousands of 9/11 first responders and survivors, already suffering from long-term respiratory problems and other complications due to exposure to Ground Zero toxins, now find themselves at additional risk due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. People with lung diseases like COPD, asthma, or lung cancer or with weakened immune systems are at the greatest risk […]

This January marks the fifteenth anniversary of the death of NYPD Detective James Zadroga, a 9/11 hero and a Barasch & McGarry client. Zadroga tragically died of respiratory and digestive disease. But his death and autopsy were the evidence Congress needed to  demonstrate the deadly health consequences of exposure to Ground Zero toxins. Zadroga’s death […]