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Manhattan Battalion Chief James Costello, 52, died the day before Thanksgiving and was buried in New Jersey after a Catholic funeral mass, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
While Congress drags its heels on renewing the Zadroga Act, a hero former FDNY battalion chief was buried on Wednesday after succumbing to World Trade Center-related cancer, officials said.
Manhattan Battalion Chief James Costello, 52, died the day before Thanksgiving and was buried in New Jersey after a Catholic funeral mass, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
The irony of Costello — described as a “very bright” and hardworking member of the department — dying as Congress dallies on renewing a bill that will pay for care for other members wasn’t lost on Nigro.
“I find it hard to believe,” said Nigro. “The effect it [World Trade Center illnesses] has had on members of this department … and on our families is devastating.”
He spoke after a World Trade Center Steering Committee meeting in which Mayor de Blasio addressed the group — which is responsible for monitoring the health of people impacted by the terror attacks — urged Congress to quickly reauthorize the Zadroga Act.
“World Trade Center illness is not going away, and this program cannot go away either,” he said.
He spoke to reporters at the FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn in front of a plaque that contains the names of 110 firefighters who died after 9/11 from World Trade Center diseases.
He said the wall that holds the plaque probably isn’t big enough for what will eventually become the full list of names.
“At the rate we’re adding names to this wall, we’ll run out of space,” he said.
About 1,000 firefighters are currently battling World Trade Center-related illnesses, he said.
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