Recent Blog Posts

This year, as we celebrate Labor Day Weekend, we should remember that the story of our community – the 9/11 community – has been defined by the contributions of labor unions and their members. That community includes the first responders who arrived within seconds of the terrorist attacks, risking and tragically losing their lives to […]

There were dozens of schools in the Ground Zero exposure zone on and after 9/11, from Stuyvesant High School in Battery Park City to Murry Bergtraum High School on the Lower East Side. In addition, there were other educational institutions, including Pace University, New York Law School, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Tragically, […]

August 1 is World Lung Cancer Day. If you were there as a first responder or you worked, lived, or studied in Lower Manhattan on or after 9/11, you have a higher risk of developing many respiratory illnesses and 69 different types of cancer resulting from exposure to Ground Zero toxins, including lung cancer. Within […]

If you were in Lower Manhattan below Canal Street between 9/11 and May 30, 2002, you have the right to register with the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), even if you are currently healthy. And, if you are diagnosed with any of the 69 different types of cancer and many respiratory illnesses resulting from exposure to Ground Zero […]

July is Sarcoma Awareness Month. The half a million first responders and people working, living, and studying in Lower Manhattan on or after 9/11 have a dramatically higher risk of developing respiratory illnesses and 69 different types of cancer, including sarcoma. Barasch & McGarry represents more than 125 members of the 9/11 community who have been […]

Today, we honor the extraordinary legacy of NYPD Detective Luis G. Alvarez, a 9/11 hero whose testimony persuaded Congress to establish permanent compensation benefits for 9/11 victims and their families, on the sixth anniversary of his passing. Detective Alvarez, who appeared before Congress with comedian and 9/11 advocate Jon Stewart, died only 18 days later, of colorectal cancer he […]