Death of Policeman Highlights 9/11 Legacy

By Devlin Barrett

A former New York policeman died Tuesday night as his 21-year- old son prepared to appear at the State of the Union address to symbolize the desperate health problems of some Sept. 11 workers.

Cesar Borja, 52, had been in intensive care, breathing through a tube, at Mount Sinai Medical Center, awaiting a lung transplant.

His son, college student Ceasar Borja Jr., was invited by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., to attend President Bush’s speech as a reminder of workers who were stricken with a host of illnesses after exposure to toxic World Trade Center debris.

The younger Borja learned of his father’s death in a phone call while eating dinner around 6:30 p.m. He still planned to attend the speech, which was scheduled to begin 21/2 hours later.

Earlier in the day, the son spoke of the strains on his family, and with a sense of foreboding about the future of his father, and other sick ground zero workers.

“It’s a very emotional time, and it’s very difficult,” said Ceasar Borja Jr. “My father is a symbol of those in need, in desperation.”

The Hunter College student said he came to Washington to make the point that there are many others whose lives are threatened by their exposure at ground zero.

Clinton and other New York lawmakers have been urging the government for years to pay for treating Sept. 11-related illnesses.

(c) 2007 Buffalo News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.