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First responders not invited to 9/11 ceremony

Should room be made for the first reponders?

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Dominato3r

Diamond Member
First responders excluded from 9/11 ceremony

They were the first on the scene and now they’re the last ones on the guest list – and that’s if they even get invited. First responders that risked their lives are being told there is no room for them at next month's 9/11 ceremony.

Around 3,000 first responders that were among the earliest to report to New York City's Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 are being excluded from the tenth anniversary ceremony next month due to space constraints. "We're working to find ways to recognize and honor first responders, and other groups, at different places and times," a representative for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells CNN.

Both President Barack Obama and former President George W Bush are expected to attend next month’s ceremony that will honor those that lost their lives during the attacks. First responders, many suffering grave injuries from the catastrophe a decade later, are wondering why no invites were issued their way, however.

"I'm absolutely disgusted,” retired NYPD cop Anthony Flammina tells Fox News. He says that it would be easy to make space for the first responders but instead says that officials are showing “a total disrespect.”

"The best of the best that this country offered 10 years ago are being neglected and denied their rightful place," harps John Feal to CNN. Feal was a first responder himself and has since founded an advocacy group for those that risked their lives that September morning.

Some first responders say the decision to exclude them from the ceremony is only adding insult to injury as they continue to fight for coverage for illnesses obtained during September 11. Last month the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health decided that first responders suffering from cancer would not be covered under federal aid for 9/11 victims, citing “insufficient evidence” linking the terror attacks to diseases.

At that time, James Zadroga of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act responded that he was confident that studies “will ultimately provide the scientific evidence” to link the influx in cancer with first responders on the scene at the World Trade Center.
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http://rt.com/usa/news/first-responders-911-ceremony/

What do you guys think? Should Obama decline to attend the ceremony until accommodations are made for the 9/11 First Responders?
 
Wow. Talk about a horrible decision. Their close friends and family lost their lives, they witnessed the carnage first hand, and many of them suffer either physically or psychologically. And now they can't attend the ceremony, which helps the healing process and allows them to cope with what happened. Disgusting.
 
I guess the question I have is "who was invited?" The politicians and press of course. Were the families of those killed invited? How many? How was the number of spots determined? Did the families fill the remaining spots? Without an understanding of who did get invited and the reason for limiting the total number of invitations I can't conclude that first responders were necessarily dissed.
 
You've got to make room for the family members of the victims -- which could easily be over 10,000 people. You can't make room for everyone involved with 9/11.
 
What difference does it make if Obama goes? If he does, it's because he hates america. If he doesn't, it's because he hates America.
 
It sounds like a terrible decision, but it is my understanding that the first responders have never been invited to any of the previous ceremonies as well.

The linked article doesn't say, but to what extent are the families of the victims invited? Just spouses, spouses and kids, siblings, parents, etc? It's easy to see how each death could generate ten potential invitees, with much anguish about any arbitrary exclusion rules.

It's like graduation ceremonies-everyone hates to go, but they hate to be excluded more.
 
This article says 90,000. I'm sure if any of you armchair event planners could show them how to include another 90,000 people they would be happy to do it.

The 90,000 or so firefighters, police officers, and civilian volunteers who rushed toward the burning twin towers are not invited to the ceremonies on Sept. 11.
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They could, or rather should, let each first responder department send a representative or two, and allow them to sit with the dignitaries. NYFD, NYPD, the port authority, etc could each send 1 or 2 representatives.

Seems like a fair compromise.
 
davmat787 said:
They could, or rather should, let each first responder department send a representative or two, and allow them to sit with the dignitaries. NYFD, NYPD, the port authority, etc could each send 1 or 2 representatives.

Seems like a fair compromise.
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Sounds good. My first impulse is to throw some shit at the event planners, but if it's truly adding 90,000 people to something with 5,000 tickets, I can see it would be hard. I think though it's probably talking about 5,000 tickets to the general public over and above the invited guests, in which case this exclusion is inexcusable. The general public can watch it on TV. We're talking about a pretty big space; at the least, they should be able to take representatives as you say in lieu of those 5,000 tickets and extend the event to several days. Obama probably can't make several days, but Giuliani and Bush and Bloomberg and Cuomo should be able to make time for people who risked their lives in the event.
 
5,000 tickets? Jeez, close to 3,000 died there-not even enough tickets for one widow and child each, much less all the politcal hacks, media, etc.

Move it to Yankee Stadium.
 
I bet they could find room for more than 90k if someone wanted to throw a political victory celebration, but as it is it looks like they haven't room for any of those worth two cents.

I suggest a boycott of major political party functions, like conventions. After all someone might not be able to get in

This is one group who's ass should be kissed and if they have room for just 3k, not one of them should be a politician.
 
This event has (had?) a noble purpose. Like other media-heavy events, it may have been corrupted by the celebrity/political elite turning it into an event that meant "if you have any pull at all, you have to be seen there."
 
Seems like more an event for some of the "elite" of New York so that politicians and business people can schmooze than for the people who actually risked their lives.
 
Pretty much par for the course, the politicos (Bush, Obama, Bloomberg et al) will of course be there, but not the actual people involved. Ugh, even something like this can be messed up apparently.
 
Who knows if they'll even have a ceremony after this weekend. There are six cranes around the new building under construction rated to 60 mph and Irene is bearing down upon NYC. They are supposedly working like mad to secure them and Irene could swerve or weaken enough, but it's going to be close.
 
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