Mamdani releases undisclosed 9/11 files showing New Yorkers were not told the truth about air quality at Ground Zero

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of internal records Tuesday that show officials misled people about the safety of the air around Ground Zero after the September 11 terror attacks.

“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said during a news conference, according to CNN.

The move came just days before the U.S. is set to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the al Qaeda hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people when passenger planes toppled the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, damaged the Pentagon and crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Comedian and activist Jon Stewart, an outspoken supporter of first responders who were sickened while searching for remains at Ground Zero, also spoke at Mamdani’s City Hall news conference.

“There was poison in the air, and on the ground, and in the window sills, and in your air conditioners, and covering your pets and your clothes, and it stayed there for months,” he said. “Everyone knew. Now it’s very clear that the city knew as well.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, flanked by actor and activist Jon Stewart, right, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, about the release of records related to air quality at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks (Reuters)

Key findings from the documents, which were reviewed by The New York Times before Tuesday’s announcement, include:

• Asbestos and other contaminants were found at levels that exceeded acceptable levels in dust and air in part of lower Manhattan, based on measurements taken by city agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and privately contracted laboratories.

• A draft document of data compiled by the city Department of Environmental Protection listed locations throughout lower Manhattan where asbestos levels in dust samples exceeded hazardous limits in the days after September 11.

• A November 2011 audit, prepared by a private company and submitted to the EPA, showed the amount of the carcinogen benzene was still spiking in the air around the towers’ footprints.

• That audit also showed that the concentration of asbestos in the air at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island has increased after the attacks.

• A woman who lived in lower Manhattan wrote a letter to the DEP in Feburary that detailed alleged missteps by officials in removing contaminants from in and around her building, where workers dug up grass and dirt from a small roundabout in the neighborhood several weeks after 9/11.

First responders try to outrun a dust cloud caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center’s north tower on September 11, 2001 (Getty)

The documents were discovered last year after being hidden from the public in 68 boxes stashed in a government office, city officials told the NYT.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani — who was in office during 9/11 and the attacks and was dubbed “America’s mayor” for his leadership — repeatedly vouched for the safety of the air following the attacks, even while acknowledging in late October 2001 that “sometimes the odor is terrible.”

“You smell it and you feel there must be something wrong with it. But what I’m told is that it is not dangerous to your health,” he said after the New York Daily News reported that toxic chemicals and metals had been released into the environment.

Giuliani’s successor, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also said in February 2002, “Every test that has been done says the air quality was in acceptable limits. I think some people are just never going to want to believe that.”

A Bloomberg spokesperson declined to comment and a Giuliani spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment, the NYT said.

The records released Tuesday can be downloaded free of charge from a searchable city website, with Corporation Counsel Steven Banks saying in a message there that other documents will be added “on a rolling basis in the coming months.”

The available records include the so-called Harding Memo, which was sent to then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding with the title “Legislative Alternatives to Limit the City’s Liability Relating to 9/11/01.”

“It provides insight into the City’s consideration of potential legal and legislative responses in the aftermath of the attacks, including concerns about the prospect of substantial litigation arising from toxic exposure and the adequacy of safety equipment,” Banks said.

The release of the records resolved a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, according to the NYT.

But the revelations in them could lead to new or amended lawsuits from people who suffered 9/11-related ailments, and bolster claims by people seeking payments from the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, the NYT said.

More to follow