Look me in the eye & save WTC heroes
After ex-cop's death, stricken son pleads with Prez to aid others who are suffering

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-414162c.html

By ADAM LISBERG, NICOLE BODE
and DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
1/25/2007

A tearful Ceasar Borja Jr. holds the cover of yesterday's Daily News skyward, so his father in heaven can read it. 'Dad, I will make you proud,' the cover promised.

The grieving son of a dead city cop is waiting to hear from you, Mr. President. His message: Please help the ailing heroes of 9/11 so that no more have to die.

"I just want the President to look in my face and see how important it is that we get help," 21-year-old Ceasar Borja Jr. told the Daily News yesterday, a day after his cop father succumbed to lung disease after spending 16-hour days atop the smoldering wreckage of Ground Zero.

"I want him to hear how my father died a hero," added Borja, "and how there are many other heroes who are continuing to die and who need help." Last night a Bush spokesman said the White House is "aware of the request" but has not agreed to a meeting.

"We extend our condolences to Mr. Borja and his family during this difficult time," said spokesman Scott Stanzel. The young Borja got the response after traveling from Washington to New York to bury his hero father, retired NYPD Officer Cesar Borja.

"I am thankful for the statement that was released, but I still look forward to the funding and financial support to finally be delivered," said Borja, who still wants to sit down with Bush.

The timing of the elder Borja's death - less than three hours before his son was to attend President Bush's State of the Union address as the guest of Sen. Hillary Clinton - immediately transformed the cop's stoic son into a national symbol for 9/11's sick and dying heroes. Borja insisted on going to the speech in the name of his father and thousands of other Ground Zero workers who are battling health issues, a powerful tale told by every TV network and hundreds of newspapers.

But the public spotlight could not have come at a bleaker time for the family, which was struggling with the gaping new hole in their lives and the sad task of burying a father and husband.

"I know in his mind he wanted to fight it, but in his body he couldn't," Borja's widow, Eva, told The News in her Bayside, Queens, living room.

She cradled a framed certificate from the NYPD honoring Borja for never missing a day of work before his retirement in 2003. Small oxygen tanks in one corner of the homey living room nevertheless stood as silent reminders of his more recent lung problems, diagnosed as pulmonary fibrosis.

Eva Borja said the last time her husband was conscious, he told her that even though he had been in a deep sleep he could hear everything she said. So as she hovered over him Tuesday, she whispered softly in his ear. "I knew he was going," she said. "I could feel it in my heart. I was singing to him. I knew he could hear me."

A law signed by former Gov. George Pataki in August boosted the pension of public employees who worked at Ground Zero and later died to 100% pay for their families. But the city has argued the bill was poorly drafted and will pay only 50% until the bill is fixed, which could take months.

"It's not fair," said Emma Perez, a sister-in-law of the elder Borja. "These people sacrificed their lives, and now their children are in jeopardy."

Mayor Bloomberg called Borja's death "very tragic" but said the real focus should be on the federal government and the need for an expanded Victim Compensation Fund, which once provided benefits to surviving families but has been shut down.

Many expressed hope that Borja's story would finally persuade Bush to commit to a comprehensive plan for addressing emergent 9/11 health issues. "If his death does not convince the President to come up with a plan to deal with this medical crisis and fund medical monitoring and treatment, I don't know what else will," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) said.

A bill already filed by Clinton (D-N.Y.) would set aside $1.9 billion to cover growing health care costs of 9/11 rescuers; the legislation is awaiting hearings before the Senate health committee.

"I think the federal government has an obligation to make sure we provide health care to these people," Clinton said in the Capitol.

So does Borja, who late yesterday made it back home, where he fell into the arms of his crying mother.

"I am so proud of you and your strength," Eva Borja said as she clutched her son in the foyer of their Tudor-style home. "You are so brave."

"Mom, I am not going to stop fighting," the younger Borja replied. "You know that. You know that Dad is a fighter. He wanted to let go so that he could see me at the State of the Union."

Time set aside to pay last respects
A wake for Cesar Borja will be held today and tomorrow, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Gleason Funeral Home, 36-46 Bell Blvd., Queens, which is donating its services. A funeral Mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 34-42 210th St., Queens. Burial will follow at Mount St. Mary's Cemetery, 172-00 Booth Memorial Ave., Flushing.