Thousands of people have experienced health effects like cancer, including many who have died, after breathing in hazardous contaminants after the Twin Towers collapsed.
Speaking alongside Mamdani at Tuesday’s news conference, TV host and 9/11 survivor advocate Jon Stewart said the new files show the city knew by October 2001 – a month after the terrorist attacks – that the air in Manhattan was toxic.
“So to be fair to them, they only buried that information for 25 years,” he said sarcastically.
The records show asbestos was found near Ground Zero for months after the attacks at the same time people were being advised it was safe to go there.
The files, which include air-quality reports and communications among city officials, include October 2001 correspondence known as the “Harding Memo”.
In it, an aide warned former Deputy Mayor Robert Harding that the city could face as many as 35,000 legal claims for its response to the attacks.
The document states that the city could be sued because health advisories caused individuals “to return to the area too soon (causing toxic exposure or emotional harm)”.
City officials also told citizens to clean up dust and debris with “wet mops and rags” despite the presence of asbestos, which is only supposed to be cleaned by licensed professionals, according to another memo documenting the concerns of congressman Jerry Nadler.
