New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has accused past city leaders of lying to the public about toxic air safety following the September 11 attacks.
Mamdani, who took office earlier this year, made the allegation Monday while announcing the release of roughly 170,000 pages of previously concealed municipal records related to the 2001 terrorist attacks. His administration published the documents through a new online portal ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 this Thursday.
At a news conference, Mamdani delivered a blunt assessment of what the records reveal about official conduct in the aftermath. “For too long, New Yorkers have had to fight for access to records that should have been available to them in the first place,” he said.
Mamdani continued: “The devastating truth is that the suffering did not end once the smoke cleared and the dust settled. People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”
The released documents show asbestos was detected near Ground Zero for months after the attacks reports cited in the coverage. During that same period, public officials were advising residents and workers that Lower Manhattan was safe to occupy.
Asbestos, a heat-resistant mineral widely used in building insulation during the World Trade Center’s construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, has no known safe exposure level. The World Health Organization confirms it causes several types of cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.
The scale of exposure was massive. An estimated 410,000 to 525,000 people were exposed to toxic dust from the collapsed towers, including 90,000 workers involved in rescue, recovery and cleanup operations, according to Abestos.com figures referenced in the documents.
The health toll has extended across decades. Nearly 3,000 people died in the immediate attacks, but thousands more developed devastating and often fatal illnesses in subsequent years from toxins and debris exposure.
Steven Banks, the city’s 83rd Corporation Counsel, contributed a statement to the new portal framing the release as an act of commemoration. “The horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 stole the lives of nearly 3,000 people, including hundreds of first responders and city workers who ran towards danger to bring others to safety,” Banks wrote.
Banks added: “In the years since, thousands more have become devastatingly – often fatally – ill from toxins and debris, though the true magnitude of the attack’s impact has yet to be fully realized. Every day, we remember the lives lost, the families that were irreparably shattered, and the city that bore the unimaginable. This year, on the 25th anniversary, we resolve to do more.”
The portal’s launch Monday followed years of advocacy for transparency about the city’s post-9/11 environmental monitoring and public communications. The records include details on air quality testing, health tracking, and the official response to emerging contamination concerns.
The timing places the disclosure squarely before anniversary commemorations, ensuring the documents enter public view as the city marks a quarter-century since the attacks that reshaped Lower Manhattan and reverberated globally.
Mamdani’s accusation that citizens were deliberately misled about airborne hazards represents a sharp break from the defensive posture previous administrations maintained regarding post-9/11 environmental decisions. The mayor’s blunt language—specifically that New Yorkers were “lied to”—eschews the careful formulations that have characterized official statements on the subject for two decades.
The 25th anniversary observances are scheduled for Thursday at multiple locations throughout New York City.