Just days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a press conference on Sept. 8, announcing the release of approximately 170,000 pages of previously undisclosed city records regarding post-9/11 air quality. The documents were made available shortly thereafter via a searchable, September 11 public records portal.

The release of the records comes a week after the city reached a settlement over two lawsuits filed by the nonprofit 9/11 Health Watch, pertaining to public access to the records.

The newly released records contain various air quality reports, contamination records, and internal city memos from the months and years following 9/11 relating to air quality, environmental concerns, and potential legal liability. Some documents suggest that New York City officials knew of potential environmental dangers in the early aftermath of 9/11.

NYC Corporation Counsel Steven Banks announced the city’s Department of Litigation is now investigating what city officials knew and when they knew it, as well as why the newly released information appears to have been withheld.

The 170,000 pages of documents are just the first of millions of pages the Mamdani Administration is reviewing. Mamdani stated the city intends to publicize as many documents as possible on a rolling basis over the next 12 months, with around $40 million budgeted to assist with the efforts.