NYC to release thousands of 9/11 documents on Ground Zero air quality
NYC to release 9/11 air quality records
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is ordering the release of over 170,000 pages of World Trade Center air quality reports and official records. FOX 5 NY's Jessica Formoso reports.
NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will order the release of more than 170,000 pages of documents detailing air quality conditions at Ground Zero in the months following the September 11 terror attacks.
What we know:
Mamdani is scheduled to make a 9/11-related announcement during a news conference at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the City Hall Rotunda.
It comes after city officials last year revealed dozens of boxes of 9/11 documents, including air quality reports indicating the air around the World Trade Center site was contaminated for months after the attacks, were found stored in a city office away from public view.
The documents also include correspondence among city officials, according to The NY Times, which reviewed them in advance of the mayor's announcement.
‘Transparency and accountability’
What they're saying:
"The very least our city owes the families, survivors and first responders whose lives were forever changed by the horrific terror attack of September 11 is transparency and accountability," Mamdani said in a statement to the NY Times.
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What's next:
The Mamdani administration has set aside $34 million in the budget to process and publish the records, which may expose the city to new lawsuits.
The first documents are expected to be made public Tuesday morning via an online portal.
More will be published throughout the year.
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The battle for transparency
The backstory:
The battle for transparency surrounding Ground Zero air quality has lasted years, going through multiple mayoral administrations.
New Yorkers were repeatedly assured that the air around the fallen towers was safe to breathe, though health officials were still finding evidence of asbestos and other toxins in Lower Manhattan 10 months after the attacks.
Then-EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has since apologized for saying the air was safe.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, but many more have died from 9/11-related illnesses, including lung and blood cancers, and respiratory diseases.
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The Source: This article includes details from a NY Times report on 9/11 documents related to the air quality at Ground Zero.