Park dedicated to NA 9/11 hero

NORTH ARLINGTON - Mayor Peter Massa announced that the borough will conduct a ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. to rename Skyline Park on Schuyler Avenue in honor of James Zadroga, the son of the former police chief, Joseph Zadroga who died of a lung illness contracted at Ground Zero.
James Zadroga was a New York City police detective who died at age 34 on January 5, 2006, at his parents' home in Little Egg Harbor, N.J. He died from pulmonary disease and respiratory failure that was related to the more than 400 hours he spent digging through the rubble after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
He is survived by his daughter Tyler Ann and his parents. His wife, passed away during his illness.
The younger Zadroga grew up in North Arlington and went to the borough high school where he played football. He graduated in 1989 and then went on to a law enforcement a career that culminated in his being promoted to detective on the New York City Police Department.
Mayor Massa, a former borough police officer, said the younger Zadroga was dedicated to law enforcement and to his family.
“He was just a remarkable young man who had a passion for serving others. In the course of that service at Ground Zero he served heroically, not realizing that he was planting the seeds of the illness that would eventually take his life,” Massa said.
Councilman Joseph Bianchi and Councilman Sal DiBlasi are part of a committee preparing for the dedication ceremony on Sunday
The ceremony will be highlighted by two monument placed in the park noting Zadroga’s unselfish contribution to the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The park, used by borough children for variety of sporting activities, overlooks the New York skyline.
Councilman Bianchi said he recalls fondly the times his son played with James when they were in school together
“He played with my son Joseph from kindergarten through high school. I remember them playing on my living room floor with matchbox cars,” Bianchi said. “To lose a young man like that so young in life is tragic.”
Bianchi said that Zadroga worked nearly every day for three months on the pile of rubble that had once been the Twin Towers. “He went down there and jumped in and tried to help find survivors regardless of the dangers it posed. He did it of his own accord, no one told him to do it. In my book, that makes him a hero.”
Zadora’s illness became a cause for controversy when he was refused medical treatment in New York by the city, which did not recognize the connection between his illness and his service at Ground Zero.
His death prompted state lawmakers in New York to pass a bill awarding accidental-death benefits to relatives of Ground Zero responders who contracted deadly illnesses after being exposed to air pollution at the site.