Transcript: 25 Years Later, Mamdani Adminstrtation Opens City's 9/11 Records to the Public and Settles Multi-Year Legal Battle
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good morning, everyone. I want to thank all those who have joined us this morning at City Hall: the survivors of the horrific Sept. 11 terror attack; the first responders who gave so much to so many for so long; the advocates and activists who have fought passionately on their behalf; the elected officials who carried their voices into the halls of power; and the families of those who fell ill from 9/11-related health complications. Each of you have showed a rare courage, a deep selflessness and an unwavering love for New York and for New Yorkers. We are together today only because of you. And I wanna take a moment to recognize Corporation Counsel Steve Banks and countless others in the Law Department for working so tirelessly on behalf of survivors. We are joined today by leaders both inside and outside of City government. Within our administration, our DCAS commissioner, Yume Kitasei; our DORIS commissioner, Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz; FDNY first deputy commissioner Daniel Flynn; DOB commissioner Ahmed Tigani; DDC commissioner Paul Ochoa. We have alongside us elected officials who have been at the forefront of this fight: Congressman Jerry Nadler, former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Council Member Gale Brewer. And we also have those who have been advocating for years on end to ensure that finally we could live up to what it meant to never forget: Jon Stewart; Ben Chevat, the executive director of 9/11 Health Watch; Tom Hart, first responder activist and president of IUOE Local 94; Phil Alvarez, brother of Detective Luis Alvarez; James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association; John Feal, founder of the FeelGood Foundation; Bobby Eustace, incoming president of the Uniform Fire Officers Association; and all first responders and families of 9/11 victims who are here with us. We thank you, and once again, a round of applause for everyone who has made this day possible. On Friday, we will mark 25 years since the worst tragedy to ever befall our city, the darkest day New York City has ever known. And yet the devastating truth is that the suffering did not end once the smoke cleared and the dust settled. For so many New Yorkers who lived or worked or studied near Ground Zero, and for the thousands of others who worked on the pile, recovering those we lost and clearing the rubble, that was only the beginning of years of hardship and illness that would follow. Thousands of ironworkers and firefighters and office workers and so many more remember Sept. 11 not just each time we mark the passage of another year, but as Congressman Nadler once said, "Each time they take a struggling breath, each time they have to swallow a pill, each time another chemo dose is administered." And as the years pass and the human toll grows, we reckon with the cost of Sept. 11 whenever another New Yorker is stolen from us too soon. Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself. It would be one thing if government had stood alongside survivors and provided them with everything they needed every step of the way, and yet we know that could not be further from what actually happened. People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air. And then, when they began to contend with the symptoms of the illnesses that followed, the government that had not hesitated to send them into harm's way was nowhere to be found. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which provides survivors with the compensation they so deeply deserve, exists today because of those on this stage and beyond who returned to Washington again and again for nearly a decade, often while struggling deeply with the illnesses they could not afford to have treated, to beg their government to come to their aid as they had come to ours. We are together this morning to stand steadfast alongside survivors and their families and to deliver the [kind] of accountability around City government's response to Sept. 11 that New Yorkers have been denied for years. I am proud to announce that our administration has settled two lawsuits between the city and 9/11 Health Watch, ending what has been a multiyear legal battle and restrictions on New Yorkers' ability to access information that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns. Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity, instead choosing to bury them in legal arguments and in red tape. We will do no such thing. As we mark 25 years, it is time for this painful chapter to end. As part of our commitment to governmental transparency that has too long been absent, City Hall has made a more than $34 million commitment to create a new public portal, providing information about our city's response to the horrific attack. This will be a vast resource with hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from numerous city agencies, including sought-after records like the Harding Memo, the 68 DEP boxes discovered a few years ago and information about 7 World Trade Center. These are documents that show what the city knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it and how they acted to limit liability. They contain details about DEP's response. They show how asbestos was found nearly everywhere that inspectors tested. And they will help New Yorkers access the health care they need. The 170,000 pages posted today are only the first release. More will be shared over the next 12 months. Every document on this portal will be accessible to every New Yorker free of charge. The only information omitted will be personally identifiable information and security evaluations of Lower Manhattan buildings that, if published today, could still pose security risks. Nothing else will be redacted. We worked carefully to make sure that this first tranche of documents included those that advocates and activists have been calling for decades, using the search terms they have requested, such as "asbestos" and "cancer." This is only the beginning. Over the coming months, we will continue to release updates to the portal. And as part of our commitments described in this settlement, we will appoint dedicated personnel at both DCAS and New York City Public Schools to assist New Yorkers for whom these documents can serve as the proof of presence in the New York City exposure zone needed to obtain VCF assistance. I will close with this. Seven years ago, a New Yorker named Luis Alvarez traveled down to our nation's Capital to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Alvarez was a retired NYPD Bomb Squad detective who had served in the military. In his photos from when he was younger, he was a picture of health, strong and muscular. And yet when he sat before the committee that June day, he was frail, his cheeks sunken. As he told the panel, his 69th round of chemotherapy was scheduled for the next day. I think today about the words he directed in his testimony to the members of Congress sitting before him: "You all said you would never forget. Well, I am here to make sure that you don't. I am here because others cannot get here. I would rather be back at Ground Zero again than be here, working together." Less than three weeks later, Detective Alvarez was dead. One of thousands of New Yorkers whom we have lost over the past 25 years to 9/11-related illnesses. It is an honor to have his brother Phil here with us this morning. We hold an obligation to each of those New Yorkers to ensure that "never forget" is not just a platitude but that it is something material, to lead with the honesty and responsibility that have too long been lacking, and to fight for those who were there, devoted to the city that they loved. Thank you. I will now call to the stage our corporation counsel, Steve Banks.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I will answer your first question, and then I'm going to pass it over to our Corporation Counsel to add some details for the second question. I think for the first, I just want to echo what so many have said on this stage, which is that today's announcement is a testament to everyone here, to having persevered through mayoral administration after mayoral administration after mayoral administration after mayoral administration. And we are doing this today because it is the right thing to do. And we are doing it because, as so many have said, "never forget," there have also been many who have willfully prevented the release of these kinds of documents. We are talking about more than 170,000 documents that are live on this portal as of now. We are talking about a universe in the millions. And I want to also just say thank you again to the partners on the stage, to Ben. Because the release of these documents is not simply a blanket release of every document that we may have and therefore people do not even know if it is relevant to their concern. Rather, what this is, is a release of documents, having worked with advocates on this, that are related to the very search terms that so many have been concerned about. Search terms like asbestos, search terms like cancer. I think you've heard it here, but we are now at a point where so many more New Yorkers have lost their lives as a result of 9/11 health-related consequences than were killed on that day. So, just once again, thank you to everyone here for all that you have done to make this day possible. I'll pass it over to our Corporation Counsel.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I think – I wish there was a limited number of people who misled the public, that I could describe them in just a few names. But the truth is that, as we have heard, this goes across a multitude of those that New Yorkers have trusted. And we are here to release these documents today because for a long time New Yorkers have known the truth and yet they have been unable to see the truth in any document that's been presented to them. Even when we speak about the Harding Memo, for example, this is the first time that the city is releasing the memo. This is the first time that we are putting forward documents that so many on this stage and beyond have fought tooth and nail to get any kind of a glimpse of. And it does come back a lot to the question of air quality. It also comes back, as we heard from Congresswoman Maloney, to the fact that our federal representatives had to fight relentlessly over years without being able to get the support from the city to underline what the consequences were for so many. And I recently met with a number of New Yorkers who lived in the area around Ground Zero. I met a young woman my age who was at school at the time. And we are now going to use every tool we have to reach out to those who may be eligible to be a part of this fund, but who for too long haven't even been spoken to about this. And, you know, you heard it earlier, there are people – you said people came from Mississippi? From every congressional district, we have New Yorkers who don't know that they could be eligible for this fund, leave alone those who don't live in this city. And so, today is a long time coming and also now our focus has to turn to how do we reach out to every single person to ensure that we have a truly accurate sense of what the consequences are.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI would say it's not that more people may be eligible, more people are eligible. We know that more are eligible than those currently enrolled. We know especially for those who lived in the area but have yet to receive the kind of sustained outreach. And it's not for a lack of trying of some of the city workers who have frankly also been heroes. You know, when I was at this meeting, there was a man who told me that he was called six times before he finally said, "Fine, I'll join the fund. I'll come to H+H nd I'll have my meeting." And he said, "Why do I need to do this? Because I am so healthy. I am in great shape." And then he talked about how within a year, two years after, his body started to deteriorate. And he was so thankful that he had doctors who knew exactly the kinds of 9/11-related health consequences that he should come to expect. And he was able to fight that complication off. And so, this is going to be something that we finally provide support to so many on this stage who have been doing it without City government support, and also to make it very clear that to anyone who lived in that area, if they are developing any kinds of health complications, they should understand that there is potentially a relationship between the horrific terror attack of 9/11 and what they are currently going through.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI will leave that to New Yorkers to make that judgment.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I think with 170,000-plus documents in the portal today, and as Steve mentioned, many more tranches to come, I think that there's going to be a lot to learn from these documents. I also think beyond doing the right thing, beyond making it easier for New Yorkers to make clear their eligibility for this fund, it is also important that those who faced such sustained pushback for years finally be told by the City of New York, "You were right. You were right to push. You were to demand." And that the city is finally catching up to that. And I also just want to thank people on this stage, because the tenacity to fight for something over 25 years in opposition of any kind of administration, it is remarkable. And I truly think that you have done the words "Never forget" proud.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think I would first just say thank you for sharing your story because in doing so you also give others courage to understand that they too are a part of exactly what we're speaking to. I'll be frank with you that I think the number of those who are eligible but have yet to enroll, it is a staggering number. I don't have an exact one.However, I know that City government thus far has not even tried to the fullest extent of its ability. And that's going to change moving forward. Steve, I don't know if you have additional details.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think that the focus of memorial services should be on the New Yorkers who were killed that day, their families, the survivors, the first responders. I don't think it should be on politicians. I leave it to New Yorkers to make their judgments, and what we want to do is finally allow them the documents that they have long been demanding.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThis was multiple mayoral administrations refusing to release documents that New Yorkers were owed. And we would not be here today were it not for the dogged tenacity of all those on this stage, in this atrium and beyond, who have refused to accept no for an answer, who have refused to accept any variety of technical justification that in the end was simply an attempt to deny New Yorkers what they were owed.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWhen it comes to criminal investigations and district attorney's decisions, I will leave it to those attorneys to make that determination. I don't know, Gale, do you want to–
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: 25 Years Later, Mamdani Adminstrtation Opens City's 9/11 Records to the Public and Settles Multi-Year Legal Battle.