NEW YORK — A former New York City police detective who was a leader in the fight for the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund died Saturday at age 53.

Detective Luis Alvarez’s death from cancer was announced by Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, who tweeted that Alvarez was ‘‘an inspiration, a warrior, a friend.’’

Alvarez appeared with former ‘‘Daily Show’’ host Jon Stewart earlier this month to plead with Congress to extend the compensation fund.

‘‘This fund isn’t a ticket to paradise, it’s to provide our families with care,’’ a frail Alvarez told a House Judiciary subcommittee June 11. He added, ‘‘You all said you would never forget. Well, I'm here to make sure that you don't.’’

Shame on us, politicians get fat pensions, veterans and first responders deserve much better

People's attention spans are short these days, and one crisis succeeds the next. Sad but true.

One theory is that we are all over-exposed to bad news on the internet these days so we shut down our empathy for self-protection. Personally, I agree with that as a concept. You can only worry about a limited number of things before you overload.