Mamdani says officials ‘lied’ to New Yorkers about still-toxic air around Ground Zero after 9/11 and drops 170,000 pages of proof

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of internal records Tuesday that show officials misled people about the safety of the air around Ground Zero after the September 11 terror attacks.

“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said during a news conference, according to CNN .

The move came just days before the U.S. is set to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the al Qaeda hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people when passenger planes toppled the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, damaged the Pentagon and crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Comedian and activist Jon Stewart, an outspoken supporter of first responders who were sickened while searching for remains at Ground Zero, also spoke at Mamdani’s City Hall news conference.

“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,” he said. “Everyone knew. Now it’s very clear that the city knew as well.”

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