People in the general public who… don't have documentation may have a harder time establishing they were there and then getting the health care.

Andrew Ansbro

I had a chest cold. It was actually in the middle of the summer, and when they looked at my pulminary function numbers, they were extremely low, and they suggested that I go to Mount Sinai and get a full work-up, where they gave me a whole battery of tests.

One of the firefighters who was with me, who actually retired … due to burns on his legs, he was there digging for weeks with us. He actually passed away two years ago, but … he was not registered. And because he was not an active firefighter, it was very hard to get his claims in because the paperwork wasn't done.

We think prayers for his recovery, and a memoriam for those lost, is more appropriate than a parade at this time.

Last year, Mayor de Blasio called for federal funding for hazard pay bonuses, the federal government delivered that funding as part of the American Rescue Act, but to date the Mayor has failed to fulfill this promise. Rather than a parade, a more appropriate gesture would be to make good on this promise.