Governor Nixes 9/11 Coverage For Mechanics

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The city's auto mechanics were frustrated last week in their quest to be included in World Trade Center disability and pension laws, even as benefits for other public employees were greatly expanded under new legislation signed by Governor Pataki.

An amendment that would have allowed the city mechanics who cleaned Fire Department, Police Department and Sanitation Department vehicles post-9/11 to apply for disability pensions if they develop a WTC-related illness was vetoed by Governor Pataki.

Not At Covered Sites

Mechanics were left out of the original law due to an oversight in how its language was crafted - it mandates that employees must be able to prove they performed work at Ground Zero, the city morgue or the Staten Island landfill where debris was placed. Joseph Colangelo, president of Service Employees' International Union Local 246, which represents the mechanics, said many of his members were at those sites and met the eligibility requirements to file a claim.

But other mechanics who tended to city rigs at the West 58th St. and 34th St. garages don't qualify, Mr. Colangelo noted, because those locations weren't included as part of the "zone" established by the disability bill.

"The workers at those places were the ones who were vacuuming out all the dust and debris from 9/11 that got blown into fire trucks and cop cars," he said. "Even a few months later, when some cars that had been professionally decontaminated by outside sources came in, my guys would find debris and dust inside the door mechanisms and deep in the handles."

Mr. Pataki in his veto message expressed strong support for an amendment that would include city mechanics who worked on contaminated rigs outside the approved areas, but said he was "constrained to disapprove this well-intentioned bill based on the objections of the city."

Mayor's Reasons

The Mayor's Office opposed the bill primarily because of the cost, submitting a fiscal note estimating it at $500,000 annually.

But the Bloomberg administration also questioned the need for such a bill, asserting that its supporters had failed to demonstrate that mechanics who repaired, cleaned or rehabilitated city vehicles were exposed to the same health risks as other public employees.

The Governor also noted that the bill had a technical flaw because it failed to distinguish between individuals who worked on contaminated rigs and those who worked on vehicles after they'd undergone decontamination.

"In the event that this technical flaw is corrected and the proponents can demonstrate that this bill would cover public employees similarly situated to those already covered by [existing legislation], I would be willing to approve such a measure," he wrote.

Mr. Colangelo said he wasn't surprised by Mayor Bloomberg's opposition. "I expected that because it's clear he's opposed to all the 9/11-related bills. But I was very heartened by the last line of Pataki's note, and so we'll address those issues and try it again," he remarked.