// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
New Yorkers were 'lied' to about toxic air after 9/11 attacks, says Mamdani
Toxic air quality was being recorded in Manhattan soon after the 9/11 attacks, even as officials played down the health risks to the public, according to a trove of newly released files.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the 170,000 documents show asbestos was found "nearly everywhere" they tested near Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center towers collapsed in 2001.
"People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air," Mamdani said at a news conference with survivors.
Illnesses related to the dust and smoke from the collapse of the Twin Towers have claimed more lives than the attacks themselves, US health officials say.
The document release resolves a lawsuit brought by advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, which sued the city for the documents.
City officials found 68 boxes of the documents last year. Officials had previously said they did not have them.
"Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity," Mamadani said, standing next to television host and 9/11 survivor advocate Jon Stewart. "We will do no such thing."
Thousands of people have experienced health effects like cancer from the terrorist attacks, including many who have died, after breathing in hazardous contaminants from the building collapses.
The pages of air quality reports and other documents were released through an online portal, timed with the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
Mamdani said City Hall will spend more than $34m (£25m) on the effort. He said the documents show what the city "knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it, and how they acted to limit liability".