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Reversing the Reversal

Trump White House Pivots (Again) on World Trade Center Program

The World Trade Center Health Program covers more than 130,000 people sickened by toxic debris released during the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Photo: NYPD Archives

A week after slashing the staff of the World Trade Center Health Program by 20 percent, President Donald Trump has reconsidered and decided to hire back the dozen-plus staff who were laid off.

This development came 48 hours after seven Republican members of Congress (all representing districts in the New York metropolitan area) wrote to the President on February 19, arguing, “this staff reduction will only make it more difficult for the program to supervise its contracts and to care for its members who are comprised of the brave men and women who ran towards danger and helped in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.”

The letter added, “to fulfill our moral obligation to September 11 survivors and responders, we must ensure that the program not only has the necessary resources, but also is properly administered, so that program members receive the high-quality care that they need and deserve. We urge you, as a native New Yorker who lived in New York City as it recovered from the September 11 terrorist attacks, to reverse these actions by rehiring the terminated probationary staff, restoring the canceled FDNY research grant contract, and fencing off the WTC Health Program, which was authorized in statute as mandatory spending, from any further staff and funding reductions.” (The mention of the “FDNY research grant contract” refers to an ongoing study comparing among New York City Fire Department personnel – alongside those of three other urban fire departments – the incidence of diseases associated with exposure to toxic debris released by the collapse of the Twin Towers.)

Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 911 Health Watch, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure the Federal government’s continued, long-term commitment to the health and well-being of September 11 responders, survivors and their families, said, “we appreciate the swift action by President Trump, when he became aware of the impact that these cuts by [the Department of Government Efficiency] would have had on health care of injured and ill September 11 responders and survivors. We hope that we can also count on the President’s support in the effort to fix the long-term budget problems facing the program that will start in 2027. Moving forward, we ask President Trump to instruct his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to ensure that the World Trade Center Health Program is protected from further cuts and or disruptions.”

The population affected by cuts to World Trade Center Health Program is considerable, with 132,091 people currently covered in all 50 states. In recent years, the number of people made sick (and eventually killed) by exposure to toxic debris from September 11 has surpassed the tally of people who died on that day, and the preponderance of newly diagnosed illness has shifted toward the survivor community (defined as those who lived, worked, or attended school, or child or adult day care facilities within the eligibility zone during the specified time period), rather than first responders (such as fire and police personnel).

Matthew Fenton

The Art of the Incommensurable

The Topical and the Archetypal Converge in a New Exhibit

Artist (and Lower Manhattan resident) Naoto Nakagawa

A new art exhibit showcasing paintings and sketches from Downtown’s resident visionary, Naoto Nakagawa, is on display now through Sunday on the Lower East Side. Mr. Nakagawa describes his approach to art as the “conceptual real,” a blend of visual metaphor and practiced verisimilitude that renders topical subject matter timeless.

The six large paintings of acrylic on canvas, accompanied by six drawings (rendered in pastel, ink, or crayon on paper) touch on themes such as climate change and the war in Ukraine in ways that are perceptive without being prescriptive. A case in point is “Earth Descending a Staircase, No. 9,” an acrylic on canvas painting (right), the title of which evokes the iconic 1912 painting, “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” by Marcel Duchamp. “But this is about the evolution of the earth itself,” Mr. Nakagawa explains, referring to the succession of worlds appearing on steps in the background. The two human figures in front of the planet are adorned with both leopard spots and stars, “because we lead divided lives, as part animal and part rational being,” he says. “And the celestial motif refers to the fact that all human beings literally carry within their body elements that were forged within stars.”

“The painting is an allegory for the myth of Narcissus,” Mr. Nakagawa continues, “because of the unique human capacity for self-reflection,” noting the upside-down mirror image of earth at the tableau’s lower section, in which the planet is being incinerated by a nuclear blast. “Narcissus died because he was obsessed with his own image. I am trying to ask whether humanity as a whole will meet with the same fate.”

Mr. Nakagawa was born in Japan, and emigrated to the United States in 1962 at the age of 18. This experience is the basis for his painting “America II,” which depicts a field of stars, reflected by water below and paralleled by a firmament above. “This is about my gratitude for this wonderful country,” he says. “What other country inspires the world with the freedom to express yourself?”

That image also reprises a related piece, “Stars of the Forest: Elegy for 9/11,” which hangs in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum as part of its permanent collection. “I began painting the first one a week before September 11, 2001,” he recalls, “and finished it a few months later. I will probably create several more ‘America’ paintings to express my love of my adoptive country.”

A third canvas, “I, You, They, Rainbow,” Mr. Nakagawa says, “was inspired by images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, which gazes deep into the universe and the Big Bang, using infrared imagery. In this painting, I wanted to use the full spectrum of visible light to imply the light we cannot see.”

Mr. Nakagawa’s new works are being shown at the Kapow Gallery (23 Monroe Street, between Catherine and Market Streets) now through March 2 (Wednesday through Sunday, 1pm to 6pm).

Matthew Fenton

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

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DOWNTOWN CALENDAR

Monday, February 24

2pm-3:30pm

Creative Writing

Battery Park City Library, North End Avenue

Walk and writing session led by author and poet Jon Curley. Free.

4pm

Plant Swap/Seed Share

New York Public Library, 9 Murray Street

Bring your plants, cuttings and seeds to exchange. You can still participate without bringing a plant to swap. Free.

5:30pm

Black History Month Celebration

City Council Chambers, City Hall

Celebrate Black History Month with New York City Council members. Free.

6pm

Community Board One's Executive Committee 

Livestreamed

Agenda:

• Battery Maritime Building (10 South Street) public access compliance
• Cannabis applications (85 Nassau Street, 57 Beach Street)
• Committee reports

6:30pm

You Between the Lines

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

Book reading. A former sorority girl starts a poetry MFA program only to discover that one of her classmates is her high school crush-turned-nemesis – and he can't stop writing about her. $5.

6:30pm

Seaport Museum Book Club

South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street

Tonight, discuss Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Free.

7pm

Stories Survive: “Live and Be Counted”

Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place

Book talk. Alfons Sperber was only 11 years old when he began his narrow escape from the grips of the German Anschluss of Austria in 1938, eventually being hidden in a Christian monastery in France and crossing over the Alps into Switzerland, before gaining passage to the United States in 1948. His story was recently told through a poignant and moving novel Live and Be Counted, written by his grandson, Ron Siesser. The book was Amazon’s top new release for young adults in October. The presentation will include special video footage of recent interviews with Alfons Sperber, who is a resident of Hillcrest, Queens. $10 suggested donation.

Tuesday, February 25

10:30am

Zumba

6 River Terrace

Easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography. Free.

10am-12pm

Mah Jongg & More

200 Rector Place

Join a dedicated group of Mah Jongg enthusiasts for friendly games, or try your hand at other card and board games. Free.

3pm-4:30pm

Drop-In Chess

6 River Terrace

Play the game while getting pointers from an expert. For ages 5 and up. Free.

6pm

Same Old

China Institute, 100 Washington Street

Screening of Same Old, the award-winning short film by acclaimed director Lloyd Lee Choi that offers a vivid and heart-wrenching portrayal of one fateful night in the life of a New York City delivery driver. $10.

6:30pm

The Talent

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

Book reading. Hollywood Wives meets A Visit from the Goon Squad in this debut novel about a group of actresses confronting their careers, their secrets, and each other throughout one turbulent awards season. $5.

7pm

The Prosecutor

Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place

Book launch. At the end of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, some of the greatest war criminals in history were sentenced to death, but hundreds of thousands of Nazi murderers and collaborators remained at large. The Allies were ready to overlook their pasts as the Cold War began, and the horrors of the Holocaust were in danger of being forgotten. In The Prosecutor, Jack Fairweather brings to life the remarkable story of Fritz Bauer, a gay, Jewish judge from Stuttgart who survived the Nazis and made it his mission to force his countrymen to confront their complicity in the genocide. $10 suggested donation.

2010 photograph © Robert Simko

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