One Brooklyn-- Call for Change of NYPD Pension Fund's Review for those with 9/11-Related Illnesses

Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams called on the New York City Police Pension Fund to change its punitive rules on disability pension claims review for New York City Police Department (NYPD) personnel with 9/11-related illnesses. The NYPD's pension board requires multiple forms of proof from 9/11 first responders who participated in rescue, recovery, debris cleanup, or related support services in lower Manhattan, the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island, or the barge-loading piers that handled debris. Seventeen years after the terror attack, a number of claims have been denied or caught up in bureaucratic red tape due to the difficulty in recovering lost records, a fact acknowledged by the NYPD.

Borough President Adams, a NYPD veteran who was himself a 9/11 first responder who reported to Ground Zero, was joined by fellow 9/11 first responders Detective Vanessa Dedanzine, who is facing breast cancer, and Lieutenant Maureen Gill, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer; both have had their disability pension claims denied and will share their personal stories.

Standing in the Rotunda of Brooklyn Borough Hall in front of a memorial banner with the names of all 266 Brooklyn residents who died that day, Borough President Adams called on the NYPD's pension board to allow 9/11 first responder claimants to provide a single form of proof of presence, a reform he feels may become even more important as 9/11-related illnesses possibly emerge in the years to come.