The events of September 11 did expose a serious problem

The events of September 11 did expose a serious problem: the inability of emergency personnel to communicate with other agencies using their radios. For a variety of reasons police, fire, and other agencies operate on different radio frequencies--and even in a day when ham radio enthusiasts have multiple frequency radios that can be re-programmed within minutes, most police and firefighters do not. The cops could talk among themselves, but could not talk to the firefighters.

This issue was not unique to New York, by any means. And it is the issue brought out by the 911 Commission that has drawn the most action (and funding) at the federal government level--a lot of radios have been replaced.

For decades there has been a hostile relationship between the Mayor's Office and the city employee unions, including the IAFF. At the time of the World Trade Center collapse, the City of New York was reconsidering a plan to reorganize the fire department, including a significant change in work rules and a reduction in the number of fire stations in the city. It was an idea that had been around for a long time--simply put, the number of fires in New York is a small fraction of what it once was: New York City has a tough electrical code, and that has drastically reduced the number of fires.