Following the Mayor's opening remarks, the Fire Commissioner Von Essen stated that he recognizes that the operation and manner in which the site has been handled has not been perfect to say the very least and commented about the need for safety. The Medical Examiner then spoke with the aim to basically remove any hope of finding the bodies of our Loved Ones. He implied that dust is likely all that remains of anyone in the building at the time of collapse.

Michael Burton, the top dog at the New York City Department of Design and Construction then took the podium and was prevented from speaking further about his own "escape" from the collapse by an outraged Fire Fighter Widow. The angry Widow lashed out against the Mayor's decision to cut back on the recovery effort and demanded that the meeting be directed at addressing the issues of human remains being found in Staten Island Dumpsters.

Firemen voiced their outrage against the Medical Examiner's remarks about "no bodies to recover" and called his statements boldface lies. They said their men were recovering bodies fully in tact and if allowed to do their job, will and can recover more.

Cutbacks Mean Scooped Debris Goes Unchecked into Dumpsters. One Fire Chief stated that he has been at the site everyday at least 7 to 8 hours at a time and sees first hand exactly what is happening. Essentially, the grappler hooks are now forced to dump the scooped debris directly into dumpsters because of the shortage of men to pick and comb through the debris on the ground. Many Firemen supported having seen these conditions themselves.

The Mayor's defense for the cutback was that the site has significantly narrowed and that's why fewer men are needed. To address this, Firemen stated that the size of construction machines is increasing constantly thereby severely limiting the space and number of men that can actually work. The Firemen clearly protested that if the City removed these extraordinarily large construction machines, room would open up for them to work and recover Loved Ones. At no time did the Mayor state that he would increase the number.

Give Your Voice family members spoke out against these conditions and demanded that the families of the WTC victims be included in decisions concerning the recovery effort. We too lashed out at Guiliani and his incapable staff and brought attention to the thousands of civilians still buried. We spoke for Yvonne and James and all the other civilians still buried and did as our web site says... We gave them a voice and they heard our cries for dignity and respect for all the people who lost their life there. Jennie Farrell directly demanded respect for our Loved Ones and dignity in the way in which they are recovered. John received an applaud from the audience when he stated that he represents the Union, the same people falsely accused of voluntarily requesting Veterans day off, and stated that he would dig for James and for all Loved Ones for free and Michael spoke so well when he stated his appreciation for all that the Firemen are trying to do.

They had no comment.

Conclusion of the Meeting

The meeting concluded with a call for the resignation of the Fire Commissioner and no commitment from the Mayor to change any of the cutback plans. The situation is an absolute outrage and it’s even more outrageous to know that families like yours and mine are not even aware of what is happening. We called out to the Mayor to make him aware of the fact that once the WTC Victim's families find out about what the site has become, no cranes will be able to stop the protesters from digging for their own Loved Ones. That's one thing he can count on...

Last but not least a very special thanks to both Fire Department Families that helped us to be heard at the meeting. Especially the wonderful Family that we mentioned when we spoke.