More Remains Found
Unions: Don't Build During WTC Search

By REUVEN BLAU

Two uniformed labor leaders who lost members on 9/11 last week urged officials in charge of rebuilding at Ground Zero to stop construction until a renewed search for missing body parts in the area is finished.

PETER L. GORMAN: Make search a priority.

"Complete that process, and then go on and build the tower," said Gus Danese, president of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, referring to the new search which has found more than 200 bone shards. "You can't ignore what you're finding, so you have to stop the process, and the families are entitled to an identification process."

'Recover Our Dead'

Uniformed Fire Officers' Association President Peter L. Gorman agreed. "I'm not suggesting shutting the whole site down," he said during an Oct. 27 phone interview. "But since when do we not recover our dead?"

During his weekly radio show, Mayor Bloomberg maintained that the site "was extensively and completely searched" after 9/11.

Family members of the 2,749 victims have urged the officials in charge of the site to call in the joint P.O.W.-M.I.A. Accounting Command, which works to recover military personnel who have been killed overseas.

GUS DANESE: A page from Toussaint's book.

Captain Gorman said that was a reasonable request. "I think the families are right," he remarked. "If we can identify one of those remains, then it is worth every penny of it."

He added, "I'm disappointed that there isn't more of a sense of priority. I think there are too many people looking at dollar signs every day."

Shift in Focus

Since the initial discovery of the remains in an abandoned manhole, the Bloomberg administration has begun re-examining other sections of the area where more bone fragments might be found. The search is being overseen by Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, the Department of Design and Construction and the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center.

According to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, the city has been unable to identify the remains of 1,151, or 40 percent, of the victims of the attack.

Mr. Gorman noted that archeologists are typically called in to examine construction sites were body shards are discovered. "There they get archeologists to stop the whole site," he said. "Here, we know where they came from."

The new discovery of body parts has led many to question the cleanup process, which was led by DDC. Retired Police Lieut. John McArdle told reporters last week that he cautioned DDC officials to slow the process.

'Seen As Obstructionists'

Mr. Gorman charged that Kenneth Holden, the DDC Commissioner at the time, "resented" the NYPD and Fire Department. "Because we were seen as obstructionists and we slowed things down," the union president said. "Every day, there was a meeting at 7 a.m., and every day we had to fight to look for remains."

Mr. Holden did not return several calls seeking comment. He is now working as the Continuum Health Partners Inc. corporate vice president for real estate and facilities. Under Mr. Holden's leadership, DDC was hailed for its quick and under-budget removal of the 1.5 million tons of debris.

"You've got to remember, this was a massive cleanup done - a heroic job, I think is a fair way to phrase it - by people who really dedicated themselves," Mr. Bloomberg said Oct. 24. But he acknowledged that "there was a lot of pressure to do things quickly."

Captain Gorman pointed out that the fire unions vehemently protested then-Mayor Giuliani's initial decision to call off the search for survivors and remains in October 2001.

Mr. Danese noted that Mayor Bloomberg is not directly in charge of the rebuilding process. "Bloomberg should keep his mouth shut, because he has absolutely nothing to do with the Trade Center," Mr. Danese charged, noting that the site is owned by the bi-state Port Authority. "Don't voice your opinion on an agency that you don't have any control over."

He added, "I think he's insulting the families who lost their loved ones on 9/11."