The Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, made public on Tuesday over 170,000 pages of internal documents revealing how municipal authorities misled the public about the air safety around Ground Zero, following the September 11 attacks, reports The Independent.
At a press conference at City Hall, alongside activist and actor Jon Stewart, Mamdani condemned former leaders for lying about the toxic air, a lie that led to the illness of numerous rescuers and residents.
“People fell ill because the leaders they trusted lied to them and told them they could safely breathe toxic air,” Mamdani declared.
The documents were published a few days before the United States marked the 25th anniversary of the hijackings committed by Al-Qaida, which resulted in the death of nearly 3,000 people.
Among them is the so-called Harding memorandum, which details the strategies analyzed by the city to limit its legal liability related to exposure to toxic substances and protective equipment.
“There was poison in the air, on the ground, on window sills, in air conditioning units, on your pets and on clothes, and it stayed there for months,” said Jon Stewart. “Everyone knew. Now it’s very clear that the city knew too.”
The publication of the documents has put an end to a process initiated by the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, with other municipal documents to be gradually uploaded.