Employers with businesses in lower Manhattan on 9/11 will soon be required to alert past and present workers that they may have been exposed to harmful toxins from the terror attacks and seek help.
Gov. Hochul is poised to sign the 9/11 Notice Act, which was passed by both chambers of the state Legislature in June, sources told the Daily News.
If the governor approves the measure, businesses and institutions in lower Manhattan and north Brooklyn that had people working in the area on 9/11 and the months that followed would be required to notify their employees that they were exposed to cancer causing toxins and were eligibile to enroll in the federal Victim Compensation Fund and World Trade Center Health Program.
An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to Ground Zero toxins on 9/11 and the days that followed, including 57,000 residents who lived south of Canal St. and 15,000 students and administrators at lower Manhattan schools, according to city statistics.
Yet, there is a disparity between the number of first responders who have enrolled in these programs and survivors, said Assemblyman Nader Sayegh (D-Yonkers), who introduced the 9/11 Notice Act in the Assembly.
An “utter lack of awareness” has left survivors oblivious of the help they could receive, the legislator said.
“[Now] forgotten victims, including downtown office workers, doormen, construction workers, students, teachers, retail workers, delivery people, must be notified of their eligibility status by their ex-employer,” Sayegh said.
Sayegh learned about the disparity from attorney and 9/11 advocate Michael Barash, who spoke about the issue on a Westchester radio show about the 20th Anniversary of the terror attacks in which the assemblyman was also a guest speaker.
Survivors should get as much help as first responders since “they were exposed to the same toxins as the firefighters and cops,” Barash said.
“Not surprisingly, they are being diagnosed with and dying from the same illnesses,” he…
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