More than 170,000 pages of newly released records, never before shown to the public, reveal that New York City officials knew of potential dangers from exposure to Ground Zero toxins in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks — despite repeated assurances to the public that the air was safe to breathe.
Over the two decades that followed, thousands of first responders and other New Yorkers developed lung disease, neurological illnesses and cancers linked to expansive recovery efforts and their lives in the shadow of the attack, as clouds of chemicals, cement dust, asbestos and other toxic debris lingered in the air and in buildings.
