As the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City approaches, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has directed the public release of a trove of documents related to the tragedy. Mamdani is reportedly set to address the release of the pages on Tuesday. The documents look into the city's investigation into air quality in Lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center.
In June, the mayor allocated $34.2 million of the city’s $126-billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year to create a public portal of these documents. While the Times said that the documents offer only a smattering of reports taken around ground zero and many are “presumably absent,” the so-called Harding memo from 2001, which reportedly displayed city leaders preparing for potential liability to thousands of residents over their claims of toxic air, is believed to be among the pages. A spokesperson for the mayor told NY1 in July that the portal is expected to host millions of documents, and the mayor’s office has said that additional documents will be added on a rolling basis.
TIME has reached out to Mayor Mamdani’s office for comment. Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, but more people are believed to have been killed by diseases related to the attack. The World Trade Center Health Program, which provides no-cost monitoring and treatment for covered 9/11-related health conditions, said thousands continue to be diagnosed with ailments resulting from their exposure to dust, smoke, debris, and the traumatic events.
The city’s Fire Department released a report on Sept. 1 detailing the lasting effects of the 9/11 tragedy on first responders. More than 12,000 FDNY members have been diagnosed and certified with at least one related physical or mental health condition, including cancers, according to the report. The documents the Times obtained reportedly included records related to 15 John Street, near the collapsed World Trade Center, which purportedly detected asbestos—at times exceeding acceptable limits—about a year after the attack.
Among the pages was also an audit from November 2001, submitted to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which reportedly showed high concentrations of benzene, a cancer-causing substance, in the air near the towers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that exposure to these contaminants increases the risk of developing health conditions, such as illnesses concerning the airways and digestive systems. The CDC added that after the attacks, around 400,000 people were exposed to these contaminants and other factors that increased their risk for such conditions.
The release of the documents coincides with Mamdani drawing calls from families of victims of the tragedy and some Republican politicians not to attend the 9/11 remembrance event in New York City on Friday. In July, 9/11 widower Giovanni Galante began a petition against Mamdani’s attendance, citing concerns over “Mamdani's public positions, associations, and responses to rhetoric that many perceive as hostile.” The petition cites Mamdani’s refusal to condemn those who say “globalize the intifada” as one of the issues. The petition also references Mamdani’s appointment of Ramzi Kassem, who worked for the Biden Administration, as chief counsel to the mayor.
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