On November 2 firefighters and police clash at the site of the World Trade Center. Firefighters say dignity and respect were at issue. City Officials say there were safety concerns. Varsity writer Diarra Smith says its all about the money.

October 30: Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s decides to reduce the number of firefighters assisting in the recovery to 24, down from 300 three weeks earlier. City officials say safety and health hazards in having large numbers of firefighters searching through rubble in the midst of cranes and excavation equipment prompted their decision to scale back the number of searchers.

October 31: Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces that most of the precious metals—held in vaults by Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia—had been safely recovered.

November 2: Hundreds of firefighters protest. Eleven active firefighters, including two representatives of the union that organized the rally, were among 12 people arrested. They will face charges ranging from resisting arrest and disorderly conduct to assault. Five police officers were injured during Friday’s rally.

November 3: Ten of the 12 firefighters arrested during Friday’s melee were arraigned. More than 200 firefighters are still buried in the rubble. City officials put the total number of missing at 3,897.

November 6: Two fire department union officials surrendered to police Monday, joining 12 firefighters and officials charged in a protest last week at the World Trade Center site. There are now 25 firefighters and 25 officers allowed to work at the site at a time.

November 10: The mayor says he is asking the District Attorney to drop all charges except those of hitting or striking a police officer. Manhattan’s district attorney said Saturday he would move to dismiss some charges against firefighters stemming from fighting that broke out at a protest November 2 at the World Trade Center disaster site

Facts:

•The World Trade Center recovery could cost as much as $40 billion.

•The cost to New York’s economy is estimated at $105 billion.

•Cost of overtime work is estimated at $3.6 billion and that number doesn’t include police, firefighters and city workers.

•Most of the 300 WTC tenants were blue-chip firms

•8 law firms, 6 banks, 5 stock brokerage houses, and 3 insurance companies had their headoffices in the twin towers.

•Many foreign banks also had offices there.

•The building had it’s own zip code: 10048.