Toxic air after 9/11: Mamdani releases documents showing how New Yorkers were misled

New York City Mayor Mamdani attends press conference on releasing records on Sept. 11 attacks, in New York (Photo: Reuters) Days before the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City has reportedly published a number of previously withheld records suggesting officials misled the public about dangerous air quality in the aftermath of the atrocity.At a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled some 170,000 pages relating to health concerns following the collapse of the Twin Towers, Al Jazeera reported.Mamdani said the release would finally bring "accountability" that New Yorkers had long been denied, arguing that "people got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air."Among the papers is the “Harding Memo”, which was sent in October 2001 to then-deputy mayor Robert Harding, which anticipated thousands of lawsuits over "toxic exposure" and set out ways the city might limit its liability.According to the BBC, the memo warned the city could face as many as 35,000 legal claims, partly because health advisories had prompted people to return to the area too soon, risking "toxic exposure or emotional harm...