Nearly 25 years after terrorists brought down the Twin Towers, the heroes and survivors who breathed in that toxic dust are dying at alarming rates, and newly released documents suggest government officials knew the air wasn’t safe when they told Americans otherwise.
Northwell Health doctors gathered Tuesday at Long Island Jewish Medical Center to deliver a grim warning: their hospital system has recorded 800 new 9/11-related cancer cases in just 42 months. The numbers represent a staggering 75% spike over the last three years alone, with 132 new cases diagnosed in the first half of 2026.
The timing of the announcement was no accident. Just hours earlier, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released 170,000 pages of long-hidden documents about Ground Zero’s air quality. Those records indicate past city officials may have known about the deadly risks and misled the public anyway.
Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of Northwell’s World Trade Center Health Program, didn’t mince words about what she witnessed in those dark days. “When officials declared the air ‘safe to breathe,’ we knew that couldn’t be true,” Moline said. “We saw the dust, smelled the fumes, and understood the environmental catastrophe in front of us.”
The numbers tell a devastating story. Northwell Health’s program saw 9/11-related cancers climb from 177 cases in 2023 to at least 235 in 2025. For perspective, the program logged just over 1,630 cancer cases during its entire first decade after launching in 2013. That total has now ballooned to 2,445 cases as of June.
Hospital officials noted the tally counts cancers, not individuals. One patient may be battling multiple 9/11-related cancers simultaneously. Currently, nearly 1,500 patients in the Northwell system are fighting these illnesses.
The hospital serves patients across Long Island, New York City’s five boroughs, and Westchester County.
Beyond Northwell’s walls, the nationwide picture is even more staggering. Cancer certifications among World Trade Center survivors, downtown Manhattan residents, and workers who served on or near The Pile have exploded from 3,204 confirmed cases in 2015 to over 57,000 this year. That’s a nearly 1,700% increase.
The human cost continues to mount. Roughly 10,000 first responders and survivors have now died from illnesses tied to the September 11 attacks, according to September 11 Victim Compensation Fund data through July 31.
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans and changed the nation forever. But for thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction workers, and ordinary New Yorkers who rushed to help or simply lived and worked nearby, the dying never stopped.
