FDNY Denied Access:
Accident at Freedom
Tower site Adds Fuel
to Ground Zero Feud
Between Port
Authority, City
NY Daily News 3/9/10
A Bronx hardhat was
seriously injured
when he plunged
nearly two stories
inside the Freedom
Tower on Monday -
sparking a flareup
in the ongoing feud
between the city and
the Port Authority
over access to
Ground Zero.
Jose Jerez, 28, was
working on a doorway
100 feet above
street level when he
plummeted about 14
feet, landing on a
plywood floor inside
the
skyscraper-to-be,
Port Authority
officials said.
The Port Authority,
which owns and has
sole jurisdiction
over the former
World Trade Center
site, dispatched its
own police and
emergency
responders, who
reached Jerez
"within a minute or
two" of his fall,
said spokesman Steve
Coleman.
The first FDNY unit
to reach Ground
Zero, Engine 10,
arrived at the
site's northern end,
along Vesey St., but
was not permitted
entry by the Port
Authority, FDNY
sources said.
A short time later,
six members of the
FDNY's Squad 18 unit
arrived at the
western edge of
Ground Zero and were
allowed to assist in
removing Jerez from
the site, the FDNY
sources said.
Port Authority
rescuers lifted
Jerez out from
inside the building
in a wire basket and
used a hoist to
lower him to the
ground. An FDNY
ambulance took him
to Bellevue
Hospital, where he
was initially listed
in serious
condition, FDNY
sources said.
While the rescue was
unfolding, several
additional FDNY
units joined Engine
10 outside the Vesey
St. entrance but
also were kept at
bay.
Officials said an
FDNY battalion chief
fumed when told the
Freedom Tower could
not handle the 50 or
60 additional
firefighters who
showed up.
When asked about the
decision to restrict
FDNY access, Coleman
would say only that
the firefighters
"were properly
admitted as needed."
FDNY spokesman Jim
Long downplayed the
spat, saying both
the FDNY and Port
Authority "had the
best intentions" of
providing care to
Jerez as quickly as
possible.
But a firefighter at
the scene seethed
when a reporter
asked where to find
a Port Authority
representative for
comment.
"They're hard to
find - that is, when
they're not trying
to keep the FDNY
out," he said.
eeinhorn@nydailynews.com
With Douglas Feiden
