Mayor Zohran Mamdani and advocates for 9/11 survivors, including “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart, accused government leaders Tuesday of lying to New Yorkers about the safety of the air after the 9/11 attacks.
The accusation came as longtime survivors’ advocates and elected officials used the launch of a new city records portal on Sept. 8 to call for a broader accounting of what officials knew and why many of the city’s records remained out of public view for years.
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said at City Hall, where his administration formally released more than 170,000 pages of records related to the city’s response to the attacks and their aftermath.
The event brought together some of the people who have spent years pushing the city to release the records, including Stewart, a comedian and longtime 9/11 health advocate; U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler; former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney; Council Member Gale Brewer; and Ben Chevat of 9/11 Health Watch.
Several went further than Mamdani in assigning blame. Stewart had some of the sharpest criticism, accusing the city government of having buried information about toxic conditions while officials pushed to get Lower Manhattan back to normal.
“I want to be fair to the city,” Stewart said sarcastically. “If you look at the Harding memo, they didn’t find out; they didn’t recognize that the air that everyone was breathing in downtown Manhattan was toxic until October of 2001. So to be fair to them, they only buried that information for 25 years.”
Stewart said people who became sick had been forced to fight for years for the government to acknowledge what they already knew about conditions downtown, and accused officials of having “covered it up to get back to business as usual.”
Nadler directly named former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, saying both rejected his warnings about dangerous conditions after the attacks.
“I was screaming at the top of my lungs to protect our communities, my constituents,” Nadler said, accusing Giuliani and Whitman of saying the air was safe despite warnings about toxins.
Retiring U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler speaks at City Hall on Sept. 8, 2026, during the launch of a public portal containing more than 170,000 pages of 9/11-related city records.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell 
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attends ceremonies marking the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., September 11, 2020.REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Congress member accuses ex-mayor of ‘obfuscation’ over post-9/11 air
Nadler said the newly released records show City Hall had predicted that thousands of responders and community members could face long-term health consequences. In a written statement released by City Hall, he accused Giuliani of “intentional obfuscation of the truth.”
A spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Whitman previously acknowledged she was wrong to reassure New Yorkers that the air was safe, telling The Guardian in 2016 that she was sorry, while denying that she had lied or knew at the time that the air was dangerous.
Mamdani, however, repeatedly declined to single Giuliani out when reporters asked him to say who had lied.
“I wish there was a limited number of people who misled the public that I could describe them in just a few names,” Mamdani said, adding that the problem extended across “a multitude” of people New Yorkers had trusted.
Asked later directly whether Giuliani had lied, Mamdani said, “I leave it to New Yorkers to make their judgments.”
And when asked whether Giuliani should stay away from Friday’s 25th anniversary memorial service, Mamdani said the focus should remain on those killed, their families, survivors and first responders. Giuliani suggested on Sunday that Mamdani should skip this year’s service.
“I don’t think it should be on politicians,” said Mamdani, who is set to attend the event and several others.
Mamdani also stopped short of adopting the word “cover-up” when another reporter asked him directly whether the city’s handling of the records amounted to one.
“This was multiple mayoral administrations refusing to release documents that New Yorkers were owed,” Mamdani said, arguing that advocates had spent years fighting through technical justifications that ultimately served to deny the public access to the material.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell 
Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, speaks at City Hall on Sept. 8, 2026, after years of pushing the city to release records on post-9/11 air quality and health risks.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Chevat, whose 9/11 Health Watch brought the two freedom of information lawsuits the city has now settled, said responsibility for withholding records extended across administrations that he said had “resisted this actively.”
But Chevat said the document release itself will not answer every question. He pointed instead to the separate, now-funded Department of Investigation inquiry into what the city knew, when officials knew it and why decisions were made.
“The documents are one thing,” Chevat said, “but the DOI investigation is really going to hopefully answer the question.”
Brewer, who pushed for that investigation, similarly called Tuesday’s portal launch a first step. At the end of the event, when a reporter raised the possibility of criminal wrongdoing, Mamdani said any charging decisions would be left to prosecutors. Brewer noted that DOI could refer a matter to a district attorney “if appropriate.”
The administration is also using the settlement to begin helping people who may qualify for federal 9/11 health and compensation programs but lack records showing they were in the exposure zone.
City Hall said dedicated staff at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and New York City Public Schools will help current and former workers and students retrieve employment or school records that could establish their presence downtown.
Mamdani said the number of eligible people who have not enrolled is “staggering,” though he said the city does not have an exact figure.
According to preliminary program data through June, more than 145,000 people were enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, with roughly two-thirds certified for at least one 9/11-related health condition. The program has recorded more than 57,000 cancer certifications over its lifetime.
Asked about “smoking guns” in the files, Corporation Counsel Steven Banks said the most damning records, in his view, were environmental test results showing what was known about air quality as the city was reopening.
And when asked whether releasing the material could expose the city to future lawsuits, Banks said it might.
“Could there be lawsuits relating to the release of the documents? Sure,” Banks said. “But that’s not a reason not to release the documents.”