New York City has released previously unseen documents from 25 years ago, raising concerns about air quality in Manhattan following the 9/11 attacks. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the release on Tuesday, stating that the documents suggest officials had concerns about toxic air after the World Trade Center towers collapsed, even as the public was reassured the area was safe.
Mayor Mamdani said at a news conference, surrounded by survivors, that "People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air." The release of these documents resolves a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch.
City officials located 68 boxes of the documents last year, after previously stating they did not possess them. Mamdani plans to release hundreds of thousands of pages of air quality reports through an online portal, timed with the 25th anniversary of the attacks, and City Hall will spend over $34m (£25m) on this effort.
The mayor stated the documents show what the city "knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it, and how they acted to limit liability." He also noted that the documents indicate asbestos was found "nearly everywhere" they tested. Jon Stewart, a television host and 9/11 survivor advocate, speaking at the news conference, said the documents show the city did not recognise the air in downtown Manhattan was toxic until October 2001.
Among the documents is an October 2001 file, known as the "Harding Memo," which warned former Deputy Mayor Robert Harding that the city could face up to 35,000 legal claims for its response to the attacks. This document suggests the city could be sued because health advisories led individuals "to return to the area too soon (causing toxic exposure or emotional harm)."
Days after the attacks, city and federal officials, including the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), declared the air near the Twin Towers safe, despite research suggesting people were inhaling toxic chemicals. Christine Todd Whitman, the head of the EPA at the time, later apologised for this declaration.