DEATH OF A MYTH ...(officer didn't report at Ground Zero for 3 1/2 months after 9-11)

NY Post ^ | February 14, 2007

[IrishMike]

For days, the dramatic story gripped the nation: Cesar Borja, a retired NYPD officer who had worked at Ground Zero after 9/11, died of pulmonary fibrosis just hours before his son and namesake - campaigning for ailing first-responders - was a guest at President Bush's State of the Union Address.

Days later, the younger Borja met with the president, who pledged an additional $25 million in federal aid (on top of the $75 million already allocated) for first-responders.

High drama?

Try hype, courtesy of The Daily News, the circulation-starved daily which had seemingly gotten its hooks into a good one.

But now comes the unvarnished truth, thanks to The New York Times, and genuine public-service reporting by Sewell Chan and Al Baker.

"The Daily News [had] published an article describing how Officer Borja had rushed to the trade center site after the twin towers fell, breathing in clouds of toxic dust that seared his lungs, and how he had chosen not to wear protective gear because the federal government had declared the air safe," the Times reported yesterday.

" 'It's not true,' Eva R. Borja, the officer's wife, said of the Daily News account," the Times reported.

Indeed, the officer didn't report for duty at Ground Zero for 3 1/2 months - after much of the World Trade Center remains had been cleared and the fire in the remaining wreckage extinguished.

Thus it is highly unlikely that Borja breathed what some have described as "toxic fumes" at Ground Zero.

Borja himself listed only eight shifts worked on traffic and security duty around the fallen Twin Towers - none as a first-responder breathing clouds of toxic dust for up to 16 hours at a clip, as the News reported.

[bondjamesbond]

And now you know... the rest of the story!

[beaversmom]

They just don't quit, do they?

[IrishMike]

As Paul would say !

[beaversmom]

ping

[rhombus]

My lord, is that a pig that just flew by my window. The NY Times on the right side of an issue? And against a fellow left-wing newspaper?

[xcamel]

I thought there was an awful lot of excess boo-hoo-hype on that story - not too hard to figure out why now...

[HEY4QDEMS]

And there is nothing to suggest that his family doesn't genuinely believe that his work at Ground Zero killed him.

I suppose the family will be soon holding a presser declaring that Borja is the real father of Anna Nicole's baby.

[Red Badger]

If the NYT-WYTs can send reporters to debunk a human interest story from a competing rag, why cannot they spend some real shoe leather on GW, Whitewater, Rose law firm, WMDs, etc............

[Red Badger]

I heard her bodyguard is now making the claim...........

[yoe]

Days later, the younger Borja met with the president, who pledged an additional $25 million in federal aid (on top of the $75 million already allocated) for first-responders.

How about those who were the 'first responders' in Iraq? All first responders are just doing what their jobs require. Now back to Katrina..........

[Joe 6-pack]

He was actually done in by trans-fats from NYC restaurants. Bloomberg should be held responsible for doing too little, too late.

[Tijeras_Slim]

ping

[ErnBatavia]

I think the source is the NY Post.

[HarleyLady27]

The man did work at Ground Zero, and just because it was a few months later didn't make it any safer did it?

I agree with the family, and I think the media and the government owes this family at least an apology for being so stupid...

[IrishMike]

And the WaPo blasting Hillary,
today will be a good day.

[jellybean]

...just hours before his son and namesake - campaigning for ailing first-responders - was a guest at President Bush's State of the Union Address.

Wasn't he a guest of Hillary!?

[IrishMike]

None the less, the basic facts of the story are a total fabrication.

[IrishMike]

The same.

[OKIEDOC]

Oh....no No NO NONONONO you have it all wrong.

Your comment should read Fake but Accurate.

ROFLMAO