Zendrah Bonnick, Asst. News Editor
On Friday, Sept. 11, the nation came together to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Many reflected on the lives lost, the events that occurred in the wake of the attacks, the “War on Terror”, the passing of the Patriot Act and the islamophobia that only increased in prevalence following the attacks. In addition, many remembering the communities that worked to assist each other following the attacks.
On Sept. 11 2001, four commercial airplanes were hijacked: American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania and American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon. In the initial attacks, 2,977 people were killed at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon; including all passengers and crew onboard all four flights.
On Sept. 8, of this year, during a press conference, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a record of air quality at Ground Zero. The records showed that documentation indicating that toxic air conditions were present at Ground Zero had existed for years. The mayor stated the reason the public was uninformed about this information was due to a “cover-up” across several mayoral administrations.
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said. “Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.”
According to CDC over the past 25 years, “Over 96,000 people have been diagnosed with a physical and mental health condition,” as a result of the attacks.
In another statement released Sept. 11, the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program said, “An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants, risk of physical injury, and physically and emotionally stressful conditions in the days, weeks, and months following the attacks.”
Mamdani also announced the launching of the NYC 9/11 Document Portal that is intended to share with the public information “that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns.”
According to the New York Times, “the documents seem to suggest that New Yorkers were instructed to return to the ground zero area before it was safe to do so… Mr. Mamdani allocated $34 million for lawyers to review and redact records that would eventually end up on an online portal for the Sept. 11 records.”
The initially released documents include over 170,000 pages that are accessible to the public, with more to be published in the coming months.
According to the NYC Document Portal, “Some of these documents were in the City’s possession but, until recently, the vast majority of these documents were in the possession of the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company, Inc., a federally-funded entity, created in 2004 to handle 9/11 related claims.”
The New York City Mayor also signed two executive orders. The first established Sept. 11., as an annual day of remembrance and service for those lost because of the attacks.
The second updating city preparedness, the mayor said “[The executive order] will also modernize the city’s existing continuity framework to ensure we are prepared to respond to the threats that our city faces today.”