Officials Lied About Ground Zero’s Toxic Air, Says Mamdani; Releases 170,000 Pages as Evidence

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of internal records on Tuesday revealing that officials misled the public about air quality and safety around Ground Zero after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The release comes just days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Speaking at a City Hall press conference, Mamdani said: “People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied to them and told them it was safe to breathe in that toxic air.” Comedian and first-responder advocate Jon Stewart joined him at the event.
The records show that dust samples in Lower Manhattan contained asbestos levels far exceeding safe limits in the days after the attacks, while a 2011 audit found rising benzene contamination near the site years later, along with growing asbestos pollution at the Fresh Kills landfill. The documents had reportedly been hidden in 68 boxes in a government office before being discovered last year. Their release resolves a lawsuit filed by the group “9/11 Health Watch” and could bolster new legal claims from those with 9/11-related illnesses, as well as compensation cases through the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
Mamdani contrasted his administration’s approach with his predecessors’, saying past city leadership repeatedly ignored calls for transparency on the issue. He noted that more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed in the attacks themselves. The city’s Department of Investigation is now examining what officials knew about the air quality risks, when they knew it, and why the information was withheld from the public.