ReportMamdani Releases 170,000 Pages of 9/11 Records, Says Leaders LiedAired September 9, 2026 at 11:38 AM UTCWritten September 9, 2026 at 11:40 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00170,000 pages of 9-11 records are public, and the mayor says leaders knew the air0:05was toxic.0:06Roughly 81,000 people now live with 9-11 related illnesses, and the records that0:11might explain why were hidden for 25 years.0:14What else the 170,000 pages reveal, and whether any former official answers, is0:18still open.0:19At City Hall, Mayor Zoran Kwame Memdani stood with survivors and Jon Stewart to open0:24the city's first public portal for 9-11th records.0:27The release landed just days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks.0:31The portal is part of a $34 million effort.0:34The documents span four mayoral administrations from Rudy Giuliani through Michael0:38Bloomberg and into Eric Adams' tenure.0:41The records cover how city officials handled air quality, contamination, and health0:45risk in the months after the towers collapsed.0:48The first tranche includes the Harding Memo and the so-called 68 boxes of records.0:53Mamdani went further at the same press conference, saying city leaders told New0:57Yorkers they were safe to breathe toxic air near the World Trade Center.1:00That is the sharpest contradiction in the files.1:03One month after the attacks, senior city officials were pricing tens of thousands of1:07lawsuits while the public was being told the air was safe and acceptable.1:10The memo first surfaced in February, after an advocacy group obtained it, and city1:14council members called for an investigation.1:16Two and a half decades separate the attack from the release in between.1:19A July 2002 finding recorded asbestos on a building facade several blocks from1:24Ground Zero, 10 months after the attacks, well after the public had been told1:28conditions were safe.1:29The city's own files echo earlier federal findings.1:32An EPA internal watchdog found the White House pressured the agency to delete1:35cautionary information about the air, and a federal judge later blasted EPA Chief1:39Christine Todd Whitman for telling residents it was safe to return while toxic dust1:43polluted the area.1:44The pages in the memo are real and verified.1:46What they show about the gap between what officials knew and what they said is the1:50contested ground.1:51Roughly 81,000 people are affected by 9-11 related health conditions tied to that1:56toxic dust and smoke.1:58First responders and recovery workers went into the pile, and thousands of survivors2:02and lower Manhattan residents lived in the smoke for weeks.2:05Those illnesses are the reason these files matter.2:08The records were sought for years by first responders, survivors and families2:12concerned about ground zero health risks.2:14The release settles those suits, but it doesn't settle the questions.2:17MAM Donnie made the charge.2:19Stewart has spent years pushing the fight.2:21Nadler was there, and Whitman's assurances were part of the federal response that2:25drew criticism.2:26Stewart and other advocates expressed fury, contending the city covered it up to get2:31back to business.2:32The release settles the legal fight, but not the reckoning.2:35What the remaining pages hold, and whether any former leader responds, remains2:38unanswered as the city approaches the 25th anniversary.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗