Mamdani releases records on toxic air in New York after 9/11 attacks

New York City made public 170,000 pages of records this week that officials say shed new light on the municipal response to hazardous air following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Mayor Zohran Mamdani framed the release as an effort to provide victims and residents with accountability after decades of limited disclosure, saying the records show people were told it was safe to breathe when that assurance was not accurate.

Among the materials is an October 2001 memo sent to then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding that flagged the city’s potential legal exposure, estimating as many as 10,000 lawsuits over matters including toxic exposure and faulty safety gear. Other internal notes from early 2002 record officials’ concerns that criticism from Representative Jerry Nadler could provoke public-relations problems and trigger litigation. Advisers acknowledged the presence of asbestos in dust and suggested changing public guidance on cleaning, rather than continuing instructions such as using wet mops and rags.

The release also revisits longstanding questions about when workers, residents and first responders were allowed back into areas of Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers’ collapse. The collapse produced a large dust cloud and fires that smoldered for months; thousands of police, firefighters and construction workers operated in the rubble, often without full protective equipment. In the years since, many of those who spent time at Ground Zero have developed respiratory ailments, digestive problems and cancers, according to advocates and survivors.

Mamdani said the documents were produced in response to litigation brought by advocacy groups including 9/11 Health Watch and pledged that additional releases will follow over the coming year, potentially amounting to "millions" more pages. Survivors and advocates, including comedian Jon Stewart, joined the mayor at the announcement. 9/11 Health Watch’s executive director Benjamin Chevat said the records confirm that multiple mayoral administrations withheld information about toxic chemicals from the public, Congress and the City Council, even as officials continued to communicate that affected areas were safe.