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    On 9/11/2001, the world changed especially at ground zero.  Ground Zero Buildings were destroyed and others contaminated.  The old rules in FDNY's manual that applied before 9/11/2001 no longer applied at least they did not apply to ground zero buildings.  FDNY needed to rewrite its manual to account for the devastation of the buildings at Ground Zero and their contamination. In many cases, FDNY did. In some cases, it did not.  Only one thing is for certain: Post 9/11/2001, the local firehouse was not in charge of ground zero or ground zero buildings.  In fact, the local firehouse was itself a casualty of 9/11/2001.  It, too, was a ground zero building.  After 9/11/2001, jurisdiction over ground zero and its buildings ascended well above the local firehouse. Jurisdiction rose to the very top of FDNY. In fact, jurisdiction even ascended above the FDNY.  There was a period of time when NYC DDC was managing ground zero and its buildings before LMCCC took over.  Perhaps, one day, when life at ground zero returns to normal, the management of ground zero buildings can return to the local firehouse as it was before 9/11/2001. However, until normalcy returns, it won't be the local firehouse calling the shots. The local firehouse in the ground zero process is dwarfed by other giants who pull the strings and make the decisions. There is just too much money being invested in ground zero and too little expertise in the local firehouse to have the local firehouse call the shots and make the decisions

On November 5, 2003, FDNY reopened The Ten House. Click Here or Click Here

Bloomberg was at the Ten House on November 5, 2003.  Scoppetta was at the Ten House on November 5, 2003.  Cassano was at the Ten House on November 5, 2003.  So were the bag pipers.  Surely Bloomberg, Scoppetta and Cassano were not just tapping their feet to the music of the bag pipes while they were there.  Surely Bloomberg, Scoppetta and Cassano were also at the time thinking, "How are we going to make sure that more firefighter lives are not lost in ground zero buildings?"  Surely, Bloomberg, Scoppetta and Cassano were thinking "How do we protect the firefighters of the Ten House from the noxious toxins lurking in the nooks and crannies of the ground zero buildings?"  Surely Bloomberg, Scoppetta and Cassano were thinking, "We better have a good plan in place to get the firefighters of the Ten House in and out of these toxic buildings safely." For if they didn't, one day they might hear the former Fire Commissioner say, Click Here.  They certainly did not want to here that.

 Keep in mind that FDNY Chief of Operations Cassano was already participating in the planning for the rebuilding process Click here.  Moreover, a year after the reopening of the Ten House, Bloomberg himself would announce in an executive order that "high level construction personnel" of FDNY were "key participants in the rebuilding process". See §5 by Clicking Here.  Moreover, FDNY and other key participants would be "coordinated" - what a euphemism - by LMCCC. See §5 by Clicking Here.

 So, it appears, from the early involvement of Cassano and the early involvement of "high level construction personnel" of FDNY, that the dangers of ground zero buildings were contemplated and addressed.

How deceiving are appearances.