Friends, supporters, board members. Our friend Joe Zadroga has asked us for support on Monday at 1:00pm at City Hall. He has a meeting scheduled with Mayor Bloomberg. The mayor has insulted the Zadroga family and all 9/11 responders for way too long. I implore you all to spread the word of a peaceful rally to show the city, the mayor, the federal government, that James Zadroga was a hero, and there are thousands of NYPD, FDNY, EMT, EMS and construction workers just like him. Tell your friends post it on your web sites, and wear RED on MONDAY. Lets show unity, compassion, and let City Hall know the HEROES OF 9/11 WILL NOT SIT IDLE ANYMORE.

John Feal 9/11 Responder/President of the Fealgood Foundation
Living Organ Donor
One Pissed Off American

Mayor sorry for calling Ground Zero cop 'not a hero'

newsday.com

BY KARLA SCHUSTER | karla.schuster@newsday.com
3:48 PM EST, November 5, 2007

A week after he said a police detective who died after working at Ground Zero was "not a hero", Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized to man's father on Monday, and promised that the city will find a way to memorialize rescue and recovery workers who died after being exposed to dust while working at the former World Trade Center site.

"The mayor apologized for his statement, the mayor was very gracious, he showed sympathy for James, he said James was a true hero, that he was just misquoted or taken out of context when he said what he said," said Joe Zadroga, father of detective James Zadroga, after a 35-minute meeting with Bloomberg Monday afternoon at City Hall.

Zadroga also said that the mayor, who heads the board of the National Sept. 11 Museum and Memorial at the World Trade Center, vowed to figure out a way to include those who worked at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks and were exposed to and sickened by toxic dust. "He understands that the people that are passing away after, such as Jimmy, and that he will go back to the (World Trade committee and figure out some way, that somehow they will come up with a way of recognizing these people that are passing away from their illnesses from the World Trade Center."

Det. James Zadroga, 34, who worked hundreds of hours at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks, became a symbol of post-Sept. 11 illness after his death last year. The meeting came after the mayor, speaking in Boston last week, said that Zadroga was not a hero, referring to a ruling by the city's chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Hirsch, that the detective's death was not a result of exposure to toxic trade center dust. Instead, Hirsch said that Zadroga's fatal lung disease resulted from Zadroga injecting himself with ground-up pills.

The conclusion contradicted a previous pathologist's report that said Zadroga's death was the result of his work after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"We wanted to have a hero. There are plenty of heroes. It's just that in this case, the science says this was not a hero," Bloomberg said last Monday. But at yesterday's meeting, the mayor had a different take, according to Michael Barash, the Zadrogas' attorney.

"The mayor said 'you know - it mayor told them that it seems clear that his illness and disability were caused by World Trade Center exposure,' " Barash said. "The mayor seemed open-minded to us...We appreciate the fact that he's willing to have this looked at again by Dr. Hirsch and we're hoping we can win the battle. Who says you can't fight City Hall?"

Thank you to everyone that went down there today. - Jon