$40 million for 9/11 document discovery, release included in city budget 

The city will devote $34.2 million in the coming fiscal year to creating a public online portal to post documents related to post-9/11 air quality and health risks as part of the $125.8 billion Fiscal Year 2027 city budget announced June 30. Also included in the finalized budget is $6.25 million for the city's Department of Investigation, $4 million of which will go towards completing the City Council-mandated inquiry into documents maintained by agencies across the city government from the period after 9/11. 

The DOI began probing city agencies for documents last year after a City Council resolution sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer mandated that the department investigate. The search turned up 68 boxes of documents at the Department of Environmental Protection last fall, but the inquiry stalled due to a lack of funding, DOI leadership told the Council in a letter last year. 

The new funding will allow the DOI to continue its investigation. 

“Thousands of families, including my own, deserve answers about the City’s knowledge of the environmental toxins that sickened and killed our loved ones following 9/11,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who advocated for the DOI funding increase, said in a statement. “I hope that they feel a renewed sense of hope today as the Council announces an additional $4 million for the completion and release of the DOI report. We will continue to relentlessly advocate for the transparency and accountability that we’ve now demanded for nearly 25 years.” 

The new online public online portal, first proposed by Corporation Counsel Steve Banks earlier this year, will make whatever documents the administration releases accessible for all, city officials say. City Hall officials pledged that the documents will be released in the lead-up to the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in September.  

“As we are prepare to mark 25 years since the horrific September 11th terror attacks, we are committing more than $34 million to create a public portal that will finally release documents from across city government related to post-9/11 air quality and health risks,” Mamdani said when announcing the budget agreement June 30. “For too long New Yorkers who have become sick have had to fight for information that should have been theirs from the very beginning. We will provide the transparency that New Yorkers living with post-9/11 health concerns deserve.” 

Court dispute continues with 9/11 Health Watch 

But despite committing to the new portal, the Mamdani administration is continuing to stonewall advocates for 9/11 survivors and responders suffering from illnesses in court. The same day that Mamdani announced the budget agreement, the city’s lawyers filed once again for the dismissal of the legal proceeding filed by 9/11 Health Watch seeking the release of documents via a Freedom of Information Law Request.

The Article 78 proceeding, filed by 9/11 Health Watch after the city delayed its response to 2023 FOIL request more than ten times and then denied the group's request in March, saying in court filings that the city had no relevant documents to share, requests that a judge order the city to search its archives with more diligence call for a hearing on the scope of the city’s search and more.  But the city has repeatedly sought to throw out the Article 78 proceeding, arguing in legal filings filed June 30 that the city has conducted "reasonable and diligent searches" and not found relevant documents pertinent to the FOIL requests.

The city provided examples of these searches in its filings, but also noted that the city's Law Department is "currently reviewing a subset of documents" that could be relevant to the original FOIL request.

"The City has committed to reviewing millions of documents and releasing information to the public to provide answers that have been lingering for nearly 25 years, but that cannot happen overnight," Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for City Hall, said in a statement. "In this case, the City asked to adjourn and the litigants refused, so the case should be dismissed while the review proceeds."

Ben Chevat, the executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, praised Menin and the Council for approving the extra funding for DOI that will allow the department to continue its investigation into the documents. But he held back on celebrating the move spearheaded by City Hall to create the document portal. 

“9/11 Health Watch would be happy to applaud the Mayors’ action as well, but we still have questions concerning the Law Department's intentions after they filed a Motion to Dismiss 9/11 Health Watch’s Article 78 court case just hours after announcing the online portal,” Chevat said in a statement. “We still remain hopeful that Mayor Mamdani can be the Mayor that will answer the question: what did the City know about the health hazards posed by World Trade Center contaminants and when did it learn that information.”