NY failed to disclose what it knew on ‘toxic air’ after 9/11

New York City's former mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed on Tuesday the release of thousands of documents detailing the city's failure to disclose information about toxic air contamination in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The mayor's announcement came ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed 2,977 people in the US, most of whom perished in the Twin Towers' collapse in New York.

Over 9,400 deaths have been linked to illnesses caused by exposure to toxic air since the attacks, according to a federal medical monitoring program. The release of 170,000 pages of documents is the result of a legal agreement with 9/11 Health Watch, a victims' advocacy group that sued the city to compel the disclosure of the documents.

Over four mayoral administrations kept the public, US Congress, and City Council in the dark about the dangers of toxic chemicals lingering in Lower Manhattan and Western Brooklyn after the World Trade Center collapse. The city's chief counsel stated that the documents highlight discussions within Giuliani's administration about legal liability and health risks.

Mamdani expressed disappointment in the leaders trusted by New Yorkers, emphasizing that they were lied to about the safety of the air they breathed.