MANHATTAN — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is demanding the city hand over data about police officers who got cancer after working at Ground Zero.
De Blasio sent a letter Monday to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly declaring he was using his authority under the city's charter to demand they release cancer-related data on police officers who worked at Ground Zero on and after 9/11.
The move comes as affected officers are fighting to receive financial assistance for medical expenses.
De Blasio said accessing the data is critical to including cancer in the list of illnesses covered by the James Zagroda 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which provides medical monitoring and treatment to people suffering diseases because of exposure to toxic debris from Ground Zero.
"As you may be aware, experts are currently investigating whether there may be a link between individuals who served at Ground Zero and cancer," de Blasio stated in the letter.
The public advocate demanded a list of all NYPD personnel who participated in World Trade Center operations in the wake of 9/11, a list of all cases of cancer reported to the NYPD’s Medical Division by these officers, and a list of all cases of cancer reported to the division in the past 10 years.
A spokeswoman for the mayor said his office was trying to find a way to share the data, but that the administration has to contend with local, state and federal laws protecting individual privacy.
"The city is working directly with Mt. Sinai to share data in a manner that protects individual privacy under the law," she said. "The public advocate would of course be held to the same privacy standards if he became in receipt of the information."
She would not say whether the city will comply with de Blasio's request.
