September 11 and the Great Betrayal
The terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001 were unspeakable, humanitarian catastrophes which continue to haunt individuals and the national psyche 25 years later. We all have our own memories of those events. I was on the London underground when a fellow passenger told me there’d been attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. I listened politely but didn’t believe one word… until I got home and my daughter opened the front door with a look on her face that conveyed the truth I had been unwilling to hear.
Earlier this week, I read an article from the New York Times September 12, 2001 issue: U.S. ATTACKED; HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON IN DAY OF TERROR.1 The sheer horror of those hours infused every word of the text as New Yorkers detailed how an ordinary working day had been turned into a desperate struggle for survival. Of course, the unlucky souls on 9/11 weren’t there to tell their stories and no memorial or compensation will ever fill the holes left in the lives of their loved ones. During the intervening years, the deadly cocktail of carcinogens and poisons let lose by the explosions created thousands of more victims, many of whom have also succumbed to their injuries.2
No one was prepared for what happened on that day and many of the decisions taken were, with hindsight, ill-considered. Of course, the actions of those entrusted with public safety should be scrutinized and no one in Washington or Manhattan should stand in the way of that. News released this week show all too clearly that the administrations of Mayors Giuliani, Bloomberg, de Blasio and Adams did just that.
The fact that 68 boxes of evidence about the post-9/11 air quality in Lower Manhattan was only recently unearthed was as shocking as it was depressing.3 According to the New York Times September 7, 2026 exposé, the hidden documents contained:
“air quality reports, contamination records and correspondence among city officials… the records seem to strengthen the notion that New Yorkers were instructed to return to the ground zero area before it was safe to do so, potentially exposing workers and residents to dangerous toxins.”
“People got sick,” Mayor Mamdani told a September 8th press conference “because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.” Asbestos was found “nearly everywhere” in the vicinity of ground zero, the Mayor said.4
 New York City Mayor Mamdani at September 8, 2026 press conference in City Hall. Picture by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. |
Documents in the archive also cited positive results for asbestos testing in and on apartment and office buildings:
“Asbestos present on the facade ledge. Asbestos present on the west side roof. Asbestos present on the top electrical cable.” 5
Even ten months after the attack, health officials reported finding asbestos half a mile away from the World Trade Center site. 6
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Mayor Mamdani released 173,000 pages of documents showing “what the city knew about toxic air around ground zero, when they knew it, and how they acted to limit liability.”7 Dozens of US news outlets covered this story as did media from overseas. Even in a world grown blasé over stories of political malfeasance, this was a scandal of immense proportions.
As the correspondent for the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) – and a native New Yorker – I closely followed the news from Manhattan as it happened.8 Shortly after the attack, it became known that asbestos had been used on the construction of parts of the World Trade Center. Little could we have imagined that 25 years later, New Yorkers would still be grappling with the horrors of that day. To think that years of litigation would be required for the city to make public government records essential for understanding the actions and decisions of elected officials defies belief. Decades of obfuscation and secrecy have finally been wiped away by the Mayor’s launch of an online New York City portal for 9/11 records. The victims, their families and those now struggling deserve no less.9
September 11, 2026
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1 Kleinfield, N.R. U.S. ATTACKED; HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON IN DAY OF TERROR. September 12, 2001.
Article behind a pay wall.
2 Day, P. EPA scientist’s 2001 memo reveals WTC dust posed extreme cancer risk. September 9, 2026.
https://airqualitynews.com/health/epa-scientists-2001-memo-reveals-wtc-dust-posed-extreme-cancer-risk/
3 Goldenberg, S., Agrawal, N. After 9/11, Documents Suggest, New Yorkers Were Misled About Air Quality. September 7, 2026.
Behind New York Times pay wall.
4 Halpert, M., Epstein, K. New Yorkers were 'lied' to about toxic air after 9/11 attacks, says Mamdani. September 8, 2026.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjdvyk3pm27o
5 Ibid.
6 Woodward, A. Asbestos dust and toxic smoke-filled air were no match for officials seeking to reopen NYC after 9/11, documents reveal. September 8, 2026.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/9-11-documents-release-main-takeaways-b3046861.html
7 According to City Hall spokesperson: “millions of additional archived records are actively being reviewed and will be uploaded progressively over the next 12 months.” A sum of $34 million was allocated by the Mayor to create a public portal for access to the documents.
New York City. NYC 9/11 Document Portal. September 8, 2026.
https://sept11documents.cityofnewyork.us
NYC. 25 Years Later, Mamdani Administration Opens City’s 9/11 Records to the Public and Settles Multi-Year Legal Battle. September 8, 2026
https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/09/25-years-later--mamdani-administration-opens-city-s-9-11-records
8 Kazan-Allen, L. Asbestos Use in the Construction of the World Trade Center. September 19, 2001.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka_world_trade_center.php
Kazan-Allen, L. Information on Asbestos Contamination following World Trade Center Disaster. September 27, 2001.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka_world_trade_center_a.php
Kazan-Allen, L. Asbestos Fallout from September 11. January 21, 2002.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka_asb_fallout_wtc_jan02.php
Kazan-Allen, L. Asbestos Spectre Haunts Manhattan. September 11, 2002.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka_asb_spectr_manhat.php
Kazan-Allen, L. Science, but NOT as we know it! September 26, 2006.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka_science_not_as_we_know.php
9 NYC. 25 Years Later, Mamdani Administration Opens City’s 9/11 Records to the Public and Settles Multi-Year Legal Battle. September 8, 2026
https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/09/25-years-later--mamdani-administration-opens-city-s-9-11-records
