Bronze Medallion Posthumously Awarded To 9/11 First Responders

NEW YORK CITY — Four first responders who died from 9/11-related illnesses were posthumously awarded Bronze Medallions on Monday for advocacy work that ensured fellow responders will receive medical care throughout their lifetimes.

James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, Luis Alvarez and Deborah Reeve were among 19 honorees — who also included former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and both U.S. senators from New York — to receive the city's highest civic honor, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

"You should not have had to fight this fight, but thank god you did," de Blasio said. "Supporting our heroes should have been self-evident."

President Donald Trump signed the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Act extension into law in July, after a long and fraught battle between New York City advocates and Senate Republicans who argued the fund was too expensive.

Testimony from Alvarez, a retired NYPD detective who died from 9/11-linked cancer, did much to convince the Senate that the fund was worth the expense.

"We were part of showing the world that we would never back down from terrorism and that we could all work together: no races, no colors, no politics," Alvarez testified in June.

"I did not want to be anywhere else but Ground Zero when I was there."

The honorees are:

First Responders:

• James Zadroga (posthumous): Former New York City Police Officer
• Luis Alvarez (posthumous): Former New York City Police Detective
• Ray Pfeifer (posthumous): Former New York City Firefighter
• Deborah Reeve (posthumous): Former New York City Fire Department Emergency Medical Technician
• Chief Paul Brown: New York City Department of Sanitation Head of Personnel Management
• Richard Palmer: Former New York City Department of Correction Warden and 9/11 first-responder

Advocates:

• Ben Chevat: Executive Director of 9/11 Health Watch
• John Feal: Founder of the FealGood Foundation and advocate for 9/11 first-responders
• Kimberly Flynn: Director of 9/11 Environmental Action and 9/11 children’s advocate
• Lila Nordstrom: 9/11 children’s advocate and founder of StuyHealth
• Jon Stewart: Advocate for 9/11 first-responders
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Accepting on behalf of the Port Authority Police Department – Edward Cetnar, Superintendent of the Port Authority Police Department; Accepting on behalf of the Port Authority civilian employees – Alan Reiss, Director, World Trade Center Construction, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

• Municipal Labor Committee: Association of Labor Unions representing public sector employees in New York City: Accepting on behalf of the Municipal Labor Committee – Henry Garrido, Co-Chair of the Municipal Labor Committee and Executive Director of District Council 37, AFSCME

Elected Officials:

• New York Sen. Chuck Schumer
• New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
• New York Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney
• New York Rep. Peter King
• New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler