The Office of Staten Island Borough President
09/03/2026 | Press release | Archived content
Borough President Vito Fossella: '9/11 Is Still Real And It’s Affecting A Lot Of People And They Need Our Help'
As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Borough President Vito Fossella said health implications still exist -- and continue to be on the rise for first responders who spent months clearing the debris from Ground Zero and later at the former Fresh Kills landfill.
He joined a gathering of medical experts, responders, survivors, advocates, journalists, and elected officials at "9/11 at 25: Honoring the Past, Protecting the Future," a panel discussion at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The program highlighted the fight to maintain health care for those who were exposed to toxins and covered their efforts to pass crucial measures, including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, its 2015 reauthorization, and the reauthorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in 2019.
Borough President Fossella noted that 9/11 is embodied every day in the minds of those who lived through it and the stories must be told to the younger generations.
"How do we keep it on the front burner?" asked Borough President Fossella. "How do we remind people who may not live or experience in New York, who perhaps weren't even born, or they were too young to appreciate that 9/11 is still real and it's affecting a lot of people and they need our help? The more you make it material, the more you show people living with this illness or that illness and put the human face on it."
He called the sheer number of streets named for 9/11 victims as somber reminders of the lasting impact of the attacks and said Staten Islanders have yet to move on from the aftermath of September 11 as the death toll continues to rise.
"This was an attack on our sovereignty," said Borough President Fossella. "We take care of our fallen, we take care of our wounded."
Borough President Fossella noted that in some parts of the country, the health issues across New York City were not treated nationally by the federal government.
"They just didn't want to be bothered," he said. "Our response for 25 years is 'it's not a New York problem. It's an American problem,'" he said.
He joined a gathering of medical experts, responders, survivors, advocates, journalists, and elected officials at "9/11 at 25: Honoring the Past, Protecting the Future," a panel discussion at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The program highlighted the fight to maintain health care for those who were exposed to toxins and covered their efforts to pass crucial measures, including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, its 2015 reauthorization, and the reauthorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in 2019.
Borough President Fossella noted that 9/11 is embodied every day in the minds of those who lived through it and the stories must be told to the younger generations.
"How do we keep it on the front burner?" asked Borough President Fossella. "How do we remind people who may not live or experience in New York, who perhaps weren't even born, or they were too young to appreciate that 9/11 is still real and it's affecting a lot of people and they need our help? The more you make it material, the more you show people living with this illness or that illness and put the human face on it."
He called the sheer number of streets named for 9/11 victims as somber reminders of the lasting impact of the attacks and said Staten Islanders have yet to move on from the aftermath of September 11 as the death toll continues to rise.
"This was an attack on our sovereignty," said Borough President Fossella. "We take care of our fallen, we take care of our wounded."
Borough President Fossella noted that in some parts of the country, the health issues across New York City were not treated nationally by the federal government.
"They just didn't want to be bothered," he said. "Our response for 25 years is 'it's not a New York problem. It's an American problem,'" he said.
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