Firefighters Protest Removal From WTC Site, But Mayor Stands Firm
Angered by a decision to cut back on their presence at the World Trade Center site, firefighters participating in a union march broke through police barriers Friday morning and made their way to the disaster site to protest the city's decision, but Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Friday afternoon that the cutbacks would go ahead as planned for the safety of the firefighters themselves.
Five police officers were injured when firefighters clashed with the NYPD, and twelve firefighters were arrested, according to Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.
The protest march was originally scheduled to begin at Chambers and West Streets and make its way south to City Hall under the escort of several dozen police officers. Instead, angry protesters - wearing their uniforms and chanting "don't shut us out" - broke through barriers and stormed toward the center of the World Trade Center disaster site, where hundreds of their fallen comrades lie missing beneath the rubble.
Once at the site, Uniformed Firefighters Association president Kevin Gallagher climbed aboard a bulldozer and used a bullhorn to lead the assembled firefighters in the Lord's Prayer, as well as chants of "bring them home" in regards to those firefighters still buried at the site.
Speaking of the police officers who had tried to restrain them, Gallagher assured the crowd that the officers were only doing their jobs, prompting firefighters to break into chants of "thank you, thank you."
The firefighters then made their way north to City Hall, where they concluded the protest.
The protest arose from the city's announcement Wednesday that the number of firefighters working at the recovery site would be reduced from more than 100 to 24, due in part to safety concerns.
At a Friday afternoon press conference, Giuliani reiterated that the dangerous working conditions at the Trade Center site could lead to additional injury or death if the number of workers isn't reduced to a more manageable number.
About 250 firefighters are still missing in the rubble of the World Trade Center. The Fire Department insists that fellow firefighters should remain at the site to look for them.
"It's a disgrace," Thomas DaParma of the UFA said Thursday. "We should have a presence, a manpower there, and the firefighters should be there until we find everybody."
Giuliani has said that he must follow the recommendations of safety experts and pull back firefighters and police officers from recovery work.
"This is all about safety," Giuliani said this week. "That's all that it has to do with."
Experts have recommended limiting the number of firefighters and police officers working at the site of the September 11 attacks because the recovery work is extremely dangerous and the city can't afford to lose any more uniformed personnel.
A representative for the firefighters union said its members are not yet ready to have the disaster zone turned into a construction site. Union members say that their members' families need the closure of getting their loved ones' bodies back.
Union members say that leaving the recovery work to construction workers would increase the chance that bodies - or body parts - will be snatched up by a crane and carted off to a landfill.