New York City has released more than 170,000 pages of previously undisclosed records about air quality following the September 11, 2001, attacks, showing city officials at the time knew conditions around Ground Zero were unsafe to breathe despite repeated assurances to the public.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the release at a news conference Tuesday.
“As the years pass and the human toll grows, we reckon with the cost of September 11th whenever another New Yorker is stolen from us too soon,” Mamdani said. “Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.”
At least 140,000 people from all 50 states have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, and 49,000 have been diagnosed with certified WTC-related cancers, according to the 9/11 Memorial. Mamdani said Tuesday that more people are eligible for assistance than are currently enrolled, including residents who lived near the site but have not received outreach and those who live outside of New York.
Yeah, exactly. It takes real courage to do what Mamdani did; despite the fact that he’s the one who pulled back the veil on this thing, he’s going to be remembered as the mayor who cost NYC a shit load of money. It’s very likely that no negative consequences are going to befall anybody who covered this shit up (well, maybe for Giuliani, but it’ll probably be post-mortem, or at least too late to make any difference). But every other mayor and elected official between then and now is going to skate. But Mamdani will be tarnished by it. It’s so fucked up and backwards. All of the previous admin officials will essentially be rewarded for being cowards.
I think he’s able to take this hit thanks to the goodwill he has built up already, and this choice will be rewarded by his electorate. Political capital is made to be spent.
The only people who will mentally put this down as ‘cost NYC a lot of money’ are already lost causes who are only looking for ways to harm him. If it wasn’t this, they would invent something else a la tan suit.