New York leaders ‘lied’ about toxic air after 9/11, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says

New York's Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced the release of tens of thousands of documents that reveal the city did not disclose all the information it had on air toxicity following the 9/11 attacks. This disclosure comes ahead of the 25th anniversary of the tragic event that claimed the lives of 2,977 people, mainly due to the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York.

According to a federal medical monitoring program, over 9,400 individuals have since died from illnesses caused by exposure to the toxic environment around Ground Zero.

Mayor Mamdani elaborated on the documents at a press conference, stating that they provide insights into what the city knew about the toxic air in the region, when this knowledge was acquired, and the steps taken to minimize liability. This release is part of a settlement with 9/11 Health Watch, a victims' advocacy group that had taken legal action to obtain the documents.

The advocacy group's director, Benjamin Chevat, emphasized that for 25 years, four different mayoral administrations withheld critical information from the public, US Congress, and the City Council, despite continuing to assure the public that the air was "safe and acceptable."

Mayor Mamdani pointed out that the withholding of information affected numerous officials trusted by New Yorkers. "People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air," he remarked. Roughly 173,000 pages of documents have been released on Tuesday, with a promise of more being published online over the course of the next 12 months, which could implicate two former New York mayors, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.

Both administrations faced scrutiny regarding legal liability and health risks during the critical period following the attacks. Giuliani was in office at the time of September 11, 2001, while Bloomberg served as mayor from January 2002 to December 2013. A document reveals discussions within Giuliani's administration regarding potential legal liability and health risks.

Another document highlights information provided by Congressman Jerry Nadler during Bloomberg's tenure, concerning residents' concerns in Lower Manhattan about the quality of air they were breathing. September 11, 2001, witnessed the hijacking of two planes, which struck the World Trade Center towers, a third plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth that crashed in a forest near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back and regained control of the aircraft.