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Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unsealed more than 170,000 pages of records that offer new insights into how the city responded to the disaster. Some of the papers indicate that officials lied about the hazardous toxins that burned and remained near ground zero for months afterward, even as the government assured New Yorkers the air was safe to breathe and rushed to reopen Lower Manhattan for business. In addition to the nearly 3,000 people killed on 9/11, thousands more are believed to have died from illnesses related to the attacks, including from cancer, heart disease and respiratory conditions.

“The Bush administration, the Giuliani administration all denied that there was an impact from these toxins,” says Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, which sued for the release of the records. He faults successive city governments for inaction, saying that “instead of mitigating the harm, they mitigated the city’s liability.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

ANJALI KAMAT: This week marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the historic release of more than 170,000 pages of city records from the aftermath of 9/11, some of which indicate New York City officials lied to the public about the hazardous toxins that burned and remained in the air for months up to half a mile from ground zero. Mamdani also announced the settlement of two 9/11-related lawsuits. He spoke at City Hall yesterday.

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI: We are together this morning to stand steadfast alongside survivors and their families and to deliver the kind of accountability around city government’s response to September 11th that New Yorkers have been denied for years. I am proud to announce that our administration has settled two lawsuits between the city and 9/11 Health Watch, ending what has been a multiyear legal battle and restrictions on New Yorkers’ ability to access information that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns. Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity, instead choosing to bury them in legal arguments and in red tape. We will do no such thing. As we mark 25 years, it is time for this painful chapter to end. Related Story News | Politics & Elections GOP Senator Calls Mamdani a “Thug,” Says He Should Be Imprisoned in Gitmo The remark comes amid a rise in Islamophobic attacks on Mamdani ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. By Sharon Zhang , Truthout July 29, 2026 Truthout

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI: We are together this morning to stand steadfast alongside survivors and their families and to deliver the kind of accountability around city government’s response to September 11th that New Yorkers have been denied for years. I am proud to announce that our administration has settled two lawsuits between the city and 9/11 Health Watch, ending what has been a multiyear legal battle and restrictions on New Yorkers’ ability to access information that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns. Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity, instead choosing to bury them in legal arguments and in red tape. We will do no such thing. As we mark 25 years, it is time for this painful chapter to end.

GOP Senator Calls Mamdani a “Thug,” Says He Should Be Imprisoned in Gitmo

ANJALI KAMAT: Mayor Mamdani was joined at the press conference by talk show host Jon Stewart, who’s advocated for years on behalf of 9/11 first responders, survivors and their families.

JON STEWART: These people had to fight, sick and dying, for years. And I’m not saying that the information may have changed the outcomes, unfortunately, for their families. But I guarantee you, it would not have been the struggle that it was to get people to recognize that what they all knew, and what we all knew who live in downtown Manhattan, is that there was poison in the air and on the ground and in the window sills and in your air conditioners and covering your pets and your clothes, and it stayed there for months.

JON STEWART: These people had to fight, sick and dying, for years. And I’m not saying that the information may have changed the outcomes, unfortunately, for their families. But I guarantee you, it would not have been the struggle that it was to get people to recognize that what they all knew, and what we all knew who live in downtown Manhattan, is........

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