NYC knew of potential 9/11 poisoning risks – but insisted Lower Manhattan was safe: bomb memo
A bomb memo made public Thursday proves the city was aware of the potential dangers of Sept. 11, 2001 toxins weeks after the terrorist attacks — as officials told New Yorkers it was safe to return to Lower Manhattan, local voters said.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) released an October 2001 memo, in which lawyers for the Big Apple acknowledged that the city could face tens of thousands of lawsuits, including those who were exposed to the poison after being advised they could return to the area near Ground Zero soon.
“Health advisories caused people to return to the area early (resulting in toxic exposure or emotional harm) or late (resulting in economic hardship),” the city’s Law Department wrote to Bob Harding, then Deputy Mayor for Economic Development under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, it’s a shame that the city provided this information and refused to disclose this information,” Menin, who owned a small business in the financial district at the time of the attack, said outside City Hall.
“This is such an alarming situation,” he said, “that the city of New York has failed to take responsibility for telling the city’s public and first responders that the air is safe to breathe and that we should all stay in Lower Manhattan.”
The document does not indicate that the city was aware of the pollution still in the air when it advised New Yorkers that it was safe to return to the area around the World Trade Center.
But it served as a “risk assessment” that showed city lawyers admitting they could face up to 10,000 liability claims from residents over potential respiratory problems from pollution including metals and asbestos, Menin said.
About 50,000 first responders and others have been diagnosed with 9/11-related cancer.
The so-called “Harding memo” was first mentioned in journalist Wayne Barrett’s 2006 book “The Grand Illusion,” although it was not clear how he obtained it.
It was finally discovered last week by pro-bono lawyers for 9/11 victims at the University of Texas, which received Barrett’s estate.
Although the university told the victims’ lawyers in December that they had no record of the memo, clerks agreed to gather 300 boxes of Barrett’s documents — and found the missing memo in January.
“It’s sad, and it’s shocking, and it’s sad that … the state of Texas is telling us more about what the city knew and when it knew it than the Mayor’s office has told us for the last 45 years,” said 9/11 victim advocate Andrew Carboy.
The release of the memo is part of a larger effort to make public records related to the September 11 attacks.
The city has previously moved to quash efforts to release its toxics records, at one point saying it lacked the documents — and even reversed course last year after a Department of Investigation investigation led by Brewer found 68 boxes of documents related to the health of 9/11, according to lawyers for some of the victims.
Council members and victims’ advocates are now asking Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fund a $3 million project to investigate and release records.
“It’s time for the mayor to step up and do what he needs to do to get the right and information to the people who really need it,” said Thomas Hart, who is on the board of 9/11 Health Watch.
Menin and Brewer said the attorney for the new Mayor’s office, Steve Banks, “showed us both very well that he is willing to do that” at his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Former Mayor Eric Adams once refused to release a trove of documents revealing the alleged cover-up – unless the city was acquitted of the charges.
“There is still a lot we need to know, and as we see in this memo, as other documents from the 68 boxes will come out,” added Rep. Dan Goldman on the steps of City Hall.
“The idea that financial and financial problems will put New York City’s actions on hold for 25 years is abhorrent.”
– Additional reporting by Haley Brown
