As the Rudy myth crumbles: He was at ground zero 7% of the time

Estimate: Giuliani spent 7 percent of time spent by first responders at Ground Zero 08/17/2007 @ 4:05 pmFiled by Nick Juliano Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has faced repeated criticism of his apparent attempts to trade on his reputation that grew out of Sept. 11 to propel his presidential campaign. A new estimate shows Giuliani spent about 7 percent as much time at Ground Zero as did the typical first responder during a three month period after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On Friday the GOP frontrunner faced more harsh words after the New York Times revealed that Giuliani spent only 29 hours at the smoldering pile of wreckage that was the World Trade Center from mid-September to mid-December 2001. During those same three months, rescue workers were putting in 12-hour shifts digging through the World Trade Center's wreckage. And Michael J. Palladino, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association of New York City, told the Times that officers averaged 400 hours each at the site during that time. Talking Points Memo's Election Central unearthed comments from Giuliani in 2006. "I spent as much time here as anyone ... I was here five, six times a day for four months," Giuliani said last September. "I thought of it as living here." The Times' tally was compiled from records of Giuliani's schedules form Sept. 17 to Dec. 16, 2001 and does not take into account the first six days following the attack, during which Giuliani paid repeated visits to the site. If Giuliani had paid Ground Zero five or six daily visits for the timeframe covered by the Times, a rough estimate shows each visit would've lasted less than four minutes, on average. However the Times reports Giuliani made 41 appearances at Ground Zero, mostly to give tours to other officials and foreign dignitaries. In his 2002 book, Leadership, Giuliani recounts visiting Ground Zero on Jan. 1, 2002, just after his successor, Michael Bloomberg, was sworn in. "I wanted it to be the last place I visited before I left," Giuliani wrote. "I had been there hundreds of times in the three and a half months since the attacks." Giuliani was criticized earlier this month when he claimed he was "at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers." First responders said the remark was insensitive and untrue. Although Giuliani said a few days later that he misspoke, he still claimed to face health risks because of his exposure to toxic material at Ground Zero.