Succeeding Rudy Giuliani after the September 11th attacks on the WTC; as rescue workers continued cleaning up Ground Zero and becoming increasingly ill, Michael Bloomberg took the oath of office becoming the 108th mayor of New York City. By 2004, with rescue workers facing growing health risks that I've noted, such as chronic asthma, emphysema, and even lung cancer, Congress, by way of the much maligned FEMA, granted $1 billion creating the WTC Insurance Fund. Christine LaSala, who has managed this sum, has maintained that the WTC insurance Fund is designed to protect the city against tort claims, rather than being a simple victim's compensation fund. Of course, this logic is hardly solace to the hundreds of Ground Zero workers who have been ill and forced to sit idly by while the fund has paid Ms. LaSala $350,000 annually and spent millions on defense attorneys arguing against the cases of Ground Zero workers. But the retiring Christine LaSala, for all her many faults, is nowhere near as unctuous as Michael Bloomberg who took an oath as mayor to protect the residents of New York City.

The WTC Insurance Fund, despite being created using taxpayer dollars has been essentially overseen by Michael Bloomberg to protect the city's liability rather than helping these victims. Is Michael Bloomberg really claiming that in the aftermath of September 11th, as FEMA and Congress granted $1 billion to New York City, that the WTC Insurance Fund was solely to be used to protect the city from lawsuits by those who selflessly risked their health and lives to help the city heal? Was that the point of the WTC Insurance Fund? Probably not, since on April 1st the House Judiciary Committee held hearings to inquire about the WTC Insurance Fund and whether it was achieving its intended purpose. Would Congress really hold hearings about this matter if Michael Bloomberg, essentially in charge of the WTC Insurance Fund (despite its private management by Christine LaSala and others) was using this money as it was intended? It is horrific to think that Michael Bloomberg, the man who became mayor after September 11th, would consider his main priority protecting the city from lawsuits by those who became sick, and in some cases died, helping our city recover. Even Christine LaSala, who has received over $1 million since beginning her reign managing the WTC Insurance Fund in 2004, has stated that the goal of the $1 billion should be to eventually become part of a Victim's Compensation Fund once the city is protected from unnecessary lawsuits.

Michael Bloomberg has paid similar lip service, but as the face of New York City, has done nothing except ensure this $1 billion of the WTC Insurance Fund is used to protect the city from lawsuits while rescue workers are critically injured or even dying. It's bad enough that anyone in the private sector would choose to manage the WTC Insurance Fund in this manner, but for the mayor to take the same stance.