New York City officials released thousands of never-before-seen documents questioning the air quality at Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks.
The city launched a public online portal with around 170,000 documents from various government agencies dealing with NYC’s air quality after 9/11 and the health risks posed by it.
The documents made public on Tuesday included the contents of 68 boxes that city officials said had only recently been located in a Department of Environmental Protection office.
These documents provided evidence that toxic air persisted for months after the attacks, even though officials assured the public at the time that the air was safe. They also included documents that NYC’s law department had related to 7 World Trade Center, the building where former Mayor Giuliani positioned the city’s emergency “bunker.”
NYC Corporation Counsel Steven Banks said that the city’s Department of Investigation is now investigating what city officials knew, when they knew it, and why they withheld such information.
Banks said that the 170,000 pages are just the first of “millions” of pages that the Mamdani administration is reviewing. The administration’s goal is to post as many as possible over the next year.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with other city officials and 9/11 health advocates, launched the release at a news conference.
“The very least our city owes the families, survivors and first responders whose lives were forever changed by the September 11th attacks is transparency and accountability,” Mamdani said. “For too long, New Yorkers have had to fight for access to records that should have been available to them in the first place. This portal is part of our administration’s enduring commitment to honor those we lost, care for those living with lasting health consequences and give thousands of New Yorkers the answer they’ve been asking for.”
Documents are expected to be released on a rolling basis. Mamdani said that personnel will be hired to help New Yorkers use these documents as evidence for victim compensation.
