Metro

9/11 fat in the fire

Bruce Greenberg, a convicted fraudster and the lone remaining litigant in the mass lawsuit by 10,000 Ground Zero workers against the city, should be tossed out of court without collecting a dime, the city contends.

The corpulent ex-con, 60, of Staten Island, was busted for 9/11-related fraud last year. He opted out of a $680 million settlement with the city and, unlike others, did not drop his suit seeking unknown damages in time to qualify for the federal Zadroga Victim Compensation Fund.

He cites some 30 ailments — from depression and diabetes to erectile dysfunction — caused by two weeks as a volunteer and foreman for ironworkers after the World Trade Center attacks.

But city lawyers say he’s faking the claim that 9/11 caused his aches and pains. For instance:

* At 5-foot-10 and about 400 pounds, Greenberg is “morbidly obese,” a known cause of respiratory disease and sleep apnea.

* In 1976, while working as an ironworker, Greenberg crashed four stories through a roof, requiring multiple surgeries, including knee and hip replacements.

* In the 1990s, Greenberg admitted “he was transferred between federal penitentiaries” due to back pain.

Greenberg served seven years in prison after he and brother David, an ex-cop, were convicted of insurance fraud for falsely reporting $1.3 million in losses from a 1986 burglary of their Brooklyn video store.

* Greenberg was diagnosed with gout, gastroesophageal reflux disease and cardiac problems long before 9/11.

Some health woes seem thrown in for good measure.

“There is no medical evidence supporting Mr. Greenberg’s claims of erectile dysfunction and renal cysts,” argues city lawyer James Tyrrell.

Tyrrell also contends that Greenberg waited too long to sue the city and contractor Bovis Lend Lease, filing in 2005 after the statute of limitations expired.

Greenberg’s lawyer, Stephen Cantor, has until Feb. 22 to respond. Cantor refused to comment.

Manhattan federal-court Judge Alvin Hellerstein has ordered that physical and mental exams of Greenberg be done by April 12 so the case is ready for trial. He has yet to rule on the city’s motion to dismiss.

Last year, Greenberg was accused of ripping off $139,000 in Social Security disability payments, claiming he was too ill from 9/11 to work. Meanwhile, he raked in $326,000 in 2006 and 2007 from a cushy supervisor’s job at the Deutsche Bank demolition, where a cut standpipe led to the 2007 deaths of two firefighters.

Greenberg and his wife, Angela, renovated their home and bought a $60,000 Corvette and two Cadillac Escalades, authorities said.

Greenberg pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion and was ordered to pay restitution.

“He used the tragedy of 9/11 to bilk taxpayers,” said Douglas Auer, a spokesman for the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.

Greenberg also cashed in on 9/11 by collecting workers’ compensation, but a judge cut off his payments, finding his breathing difficulty stemmed from obesity — not Ground Zero.