Never Forget Isn’t An Annual Slogan

If You Call Them Heroes Today, Prove You Haven’t Forgotten Them Tomorrow

Twenty-five years ago today, New York changed forever.

We remember those we lost. We remember the first responders who ran toward danger. And we remember the public servants who reported for duty, worked through unimaginable circumstances and stayed to help New York recover and rebuild.

Twenty-five years later, many of those same public servants are retirees.

And they are still fighting.

Some of them are dying.

That is not rhetoric. It is the reality of representing an aging population. Every year, we lose more members of our retiree community — people who spent their lives serving New York.

Meanwhile, others are facing a calculation that should be unthinkable after 20, 30 or 40 years of public service:

Do I go to the doctor, or do I buy groceries?

It is easy to dismiss a $15 copay as insignificant.

But aging and chronic illness rarely require a single doctor’s appointment.

There can be primary care appointments, specialists, tests, physical therapy and follow-ups.

One copay becomes five. Five become ten.

For a retiree living on a fixed income, the math matters.

Appointments get postponed. Follow-ups get skipped. Care gets delayed.

That is why we need to be careful about the language we use when discussing “healthcare savings.”

Because savings for one party can become costs for another.

The City saves money.

The retiree decides whether they can afford to see their doctor.

Today, New York will rightly commemorate September 11.

We will hear the names.

We will remember the lives lost.

We will honor the people who served.

And we will say Never Forget.

But Never Forget cannot be an annual slogan.

It cannot expire at midnight.

It has to mean remembering the public servants who are still here — including when they become elderly, when they become sick and when they need the healthcare they spent decades earning.

These retirees kept their promise to New York.

They worked.

They served.

They helped this city recover and rebuild.

They did not change the deal.

And they should not have to spend the final decades of their lives fighting to make New York honor it.

A healthcare benefit you cannot afford to use is not much of a benefit at all.

Twenty-five years later, New York has an opportunity to demonstrate what Never Forget actually means.

If you call them heroes today, prove you haven’t forgotten them tomorrow.

Pass Intro 1008.

Protect the healthcare New York Public Service retirees earned.

Keep the promise.