New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that he will launch the city’s first public portal for records relating to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. More than 170,000 pages are expected to be released and pertain to the city’s response to the attacks and settlements of lawsuits surrounding health concerns. Also included in the records will be what is known as the “68 boxes,” or the files that were not located until 2025.
“The very least our city owes the families, survivors and first responders whose lives were forever changed by the September 11th attacks is transparency and accountability. That is why I am proud that our administration has launched the City’s first public records portal dedicated to the environmental and health impacts of 9/11 and reached a settlement in these lawsuits,” Mamdani said in a statement. “For too long, New Yorkers have had to fight for access to records that should have been available to them in the first place. This portal is part of our administration’s enduring commitment to honor those we lost, care for those living with lasting health consequences and give thousands of New Yorkers the answer they’ve been asking for.”
New York City expects more documents to be released in the coming year, Mamdani’s office added.
The public documents come as Mamdani allocated $34 million to “create and maintain the public records portal.
According to the portal’s website, the Mamdani administration “has made a significant investment to give the public access to information and documents related to City government’s response to the September 11th attacks – documents that were never previously made available to the public.”
One of the primary documents featured on the portal is the “Harding Memo,” which was sent to then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding in 2001 and titled “Legislative Alternatives to Limit the City’s Liability Relating to 9/11/01.” The file provides “insight into the City’s consideration of potential legal and legislative responses in the aftermath of the attacks, including concerns about the prospect of substantial litigation arising from toxic exposure and the adequacy of safety equipment,” a message from the 83rd Corporation Counsel Steven Banks says.
