New York releases long-hidden documents on toxic air after 9/11

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Tuesday that the city has released previously unseen documents raising serious concerns about air quality in Manhattan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The roughly 25-year-old records indicate officials were aware of toxic air conditions after the World Trade Center towers collapsed, even as the public was told the area around Ground Zero was safe.

"People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air," Mamdani said at a news conference attended by survivors. The disclosure resolves a lawsuit brought by the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, which had sued the city to obtain the records. City officials discovered 68 boxes of documents last year, having previously claimed no such records existed.

Mamdani said he intends to publish hundreds of thousands of pages of air quality reports through an online portal, timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the attacks. City Hall plans to spend more than $34 million on the effort. According to Mamdani, the documents show asbestos was found "nearly everywhere" testing occurred, and additional records will be released over the coming year.

Among the disclosed files is an October 2001 document known as the "Harding Memo," in which an aide warned the then-deputy mayor that the city could face as many as 35,000 legal claims over its response to the attacks.

In the days following the attacks, city and federal officials, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, declared the air near the Twin Towers safe, despite research indicating people were inhaling toxic substances. The EPA's then-head later apologized for that assessment.

Illnesses linked to dust and smoke from the towers' collapse have claimed roughly twice as many lives as the attacks themselves.