9/11 memorial lights in 2024 (Wil Moser)
By Bec Rapacz
Friday, Sept. 11, marks 25 years since the horrific terrorist attack on the twin towers. There will be many commemorative events taking place across New York City. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated in an Islamophobic rant during an interview with Newsmax that current Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, should not attend Friday’s memorial. Mamdani assured he would be present. Days later, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Mamdani made public 170,000 pages of documents proving New Yorkers were misled about air quality and health concerns following the attack. Giuliani is one of the people who misled them.
Last week, the city settled litigation over the public release of the files, thanks to a lawsuit brought on by a group called 9/11 Health Watch. Mamdani’s administration committed $34 million to a portal where the newly released files can be accessed publicly, forever. One of the most damning files, known as the Harding Memo, is formally titled, “Legislative Alternatives to Limit the City’s Liability Relating to 9/11/01.” This heavily implies that city officials knew the health risks associated with the compromised air quality and decided not to inform the public.
Immediately following the attack, air quality plummeted and residue from the wreckage coated nearly every surface of the city. An audit from Nov. of 2001 (and again in July of 2002) completed by the Department of Environmental Protection confirmed the presence of ambient asbestos and carcinogens in the air.
City officials assured the population that it was safe.
New Yorkers continued to get sick. According to The New York Times, research on toxic exposure was relegated to workers at Ground Zero; EMTs, firefighters, policemen, and recovery workers. Many of them were diagnosed with respiratory ailments and cancer.
However, the rest of the city felt the brunt of these health issues as well. According to the 9/11 World Trade Center Health Program, exposure to the various “hazards” (ash, debris, harmful particles) of the attacks, “has been linked to aggravating, contributing to, or causing various short- and long-term health conditions covered by the WTC Health Program, such as: acute traumatic injuries (like burns, sprains, and fractures); aerodigestive (airway and digestive) disorders (like asthma, GERD, and sleep apnea); all cancers; mental and behavioral health conditions (like PTSD, depression, and substance abuse); and musculoskeletal disorders (like carpal tunnel syndrome and low back pain).”
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” said Mamdani during Tuesday’s press conference. “Close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself. 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’s administration will continue to release more information to the portal over the next 12 months.
Tuesday’s full press conference is available here.
It’s been 25 years. New York City has grown around its deepest wound, but the scar remains. The city has lost thousands of people to the attack on the twin towers, be it through illness, injury, or immediate trauma. Thousands. Many of them real, salt-of-the-earth people, who literally ran into a burning building to save others. If city officials truly kept information on credible health risks private, then it could be said that many of those deaths were preventable, had proper healthcare been provided. On top of that, the war on terror that followed has contributed to a surge in Islamophobia throughout this country, and claimed the lives of millions, including American servicemen and women. Let us remember those lost, and protect those who are still vulnerable to the damage that was dealt. There is still healing to be done. The fight isn’t over yet.
