Mamdani says 9/11 docs should be released to the public, ahead of 25th anniversary of terror attack

SEPTEMBER 4, 2026 11:28As New York City prepares to mark 25 years since the September 11 terror attack, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed his desire to make sure as much information about the attack as possible is available to the public, to keep the memorial focused on solemn remembrance rather than politics, during an interview with CBS released Wednesday.CBS correspondent Marcia Kramer reported that deaths from 9/11-related illnesses have surpassed the number of people killed on the day of the attacks, citing a report released Tuesday by the mayor and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).Acknowledging the city's responsibility to help and care for those who fell ill after 9/11, Mamdani noted that the 2027 city budget has allocated tens of millions of dollars to create an online portal that lets New Yorkers search city documents and see what the local government knew at the time."So many of these New Yorkers are ones who made the decision to run towards Ground Zero, and for that, they have suffered medically, and the city should be there for them," he said.Asked about the 9/11 documents that have yet to be released, Mamdani told Kramer, "If there are documents that we are able to release, I think that they should always be released."New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during an announcement on the Standing Up to ICE outreach program at the governor’s office in New York City, US, August 12, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)The mayor noted that national memorials sometimes focus too much on politicians rather than the relevance of the day itself, and emphasized that he wanted to make sure the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attack would be about the victims and survivors, not politicians."It's about those who were killed that day. It's about their families. It's about the lives that have been shattered. And when you go through the [National September 11 Memorial & Museum], you see an entire city in those portraits. You see the breadth of what makes this city New York," Mamdani said, "and on these anniversaries, you have an opportunity to recognize those, to remember those."Long term physical, mental health impacts of the September 11 attacksAfter more than two decades, 9/11 firefighters still feel the effects of the attack on their physical and mental health, according to a FDNY World Trade Center Health Program report released on Tuesday, which detailed the long-term health impacts on emergency responders who were present at the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.According to the report, hundreds of FDNY members have died from 9/11-related illnesses in the years since the attack, causing the post-9/11 FDNY death toll to more than double the 343 members killed on the day of the attacks.Notably, the Tuesday report also said that FDNY responders with cancer who are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical benefits to those affected by the attack, were more likely to survive compared with comparable New York State Cancer patients. This, the report notes, is likely due to the extra cancer screenings that WTCHP beneficiaries receive. Additionally, mental health effects are still measurable after 25 years; six percent of World Trade Center-exposed FDNY rescue and recovery workers still meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder in 2026, according to the report. This is compared to the roughly three percent of the general population with PTSD. What is more, approximately 98% of WTC-exposed emergency responders knew at least one person who died at Ground Zero, a factor the report said could also affect mental health and contribute to the development of PTSD.Follow us on Google