Long-secret files suggest NYC misled public about toxic air at Ground Zero

The New York City government appears to have misled the public in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks about toxic Ground Zero air in lower Manhattan, according to long-secret files released on Tuesday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The files, over 170,000 pages posted online, "show how asbestos was found nearly everywhere that inspectors tested," despite assurances that the air was safe, Mamdani said at a news conference at City Hall.

"It would be one thing if government had stood alongside survivors and provided them with everything they needed at every step of the way. And yet, we know that could not be further from what actually happened," Mamdani said. "People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air."

Mamdani and other officials say they hope the disclosures will encourage more eligible survivors and those in lower Manhattan in the attacks' aftermath to sign up for federal 9/11 health and compensation programs. 

For years, people who have developed 9/11-related illnesses and their advocates have pushed for the release of the files but encountered resistance from successive mayoral administrations worried about imperiling the city for legal liability, until Mamdani.

Meanwhile, the number of 9/11-related illnesses has passed 97,000, including respiratory troubles, stomach ailments and numerous cancers.

Rolling release

The files' disclosure — the beginning of a rolling release of files over the next year — settles two lawsuits against the city, said the administration's top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Steven Banks.

"Today, we demonstrate that ‘never forget’ is hollow if it is not met with action," Banks said. "This is only the beginning."

Among the revelations:

• An audit from November 2001 showed an "Increasing" trend of dangerous compounds in the air in lower Manhattan spanning September through November. 
• A Bloomberg administration memorandum dated Feb. 28, 2002, acknowledges: "All agree that there is at least a low level of asbestos in the dust in many buildings in lower Manhattan." In a section titled "Potential Problems," the memo writer worries that if concerns about air quality "are justified, we are not informing people of the real health risks in lower Manhattan, the City may face major public relations problems and is leaving itself open to a barrage of lawsuits."
•  A May 16, 2002, document, "Clean-up Initiative," says: "We would not use the word 'risk' ... as it would defeat the purpose of creating public confidence." 

Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, a nonprofit that advocates for survivors, called the revelations "a smoldering gun." 

Comedian Jon Stewart, an advocate for 9/11 survivors and first responders, criticized the city officials of a quarter-century ago.

"These people had to fight, sick and dying, for years," Stewart said of those who pushed for the documents' release.

What officials said

In February 2002, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "Every test that has been done says the air quality was in acceptable limits."

The then-head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, said the week after the attacks that the agency was undertaking air monitoring, and "the public in these areas are not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances."

"I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe," she said.

Fifteen years later, she apologized for those assurances, saying she "feels awful."

Stu Loeser, a spokesperson for Bloomberg now and during his mayoralty, which began on Jan. 1, 2002, declined to comment on the release.

Rudy Giuliani, the New York City mayor during 9/11, didn't return texts, calls or an email.

Pressed repeatedly by reporters at a news conference, Mamdani declined to say who specifically he believes lied to the public and whether any official's legacy should be reconsidered in light of the revelations. 

"I will leave that to New Yorkers to make that judgment," he said.