New York City has released over 170,000 pages of internal records that reveal city officials had concerns about air quality in Manhattan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, despite public assurances that the air was safe. The documents, made public in response to a lawsuit from the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, show that asbestos — a fibrous mineral linked to serious respiratory diseases — was found "nearly everywhere" in the area around Ground Zero, the site of the collapsed World Trade Center towers. The records were discovered in 68 boxes last year, despite city officials previously claiming they did not possess them. The release of these documents has come after years of advocacy by 9/11 survivors and health advocates demanding greater transparency from city officials. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the documents reveal what the city "knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it, and how they acted to limit liability." The city has committed to spending more than $34 million on the effort, with hundreds of thousands of air quality reports to be made available through an online portal. This release is timed with the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The documents include an October 2001 memo known as the "Harding Memo," in which an aide warned former Deputy Mayor Robert Harding that the city could face up to 35,000 legal claims related to its response to the attacks. In the days after the attacks, city and federal officials, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), declared that the air near the Twin Towers was safe. However, research suggests that people in the area were exposed to toxic chemicals. EPA head at the time, Christine Todd Whitman, later apologized for the declaration, saying the agency "did the very best we could at the time with the knowledge we had." Many survivors have since suffered from serious health issues, including cancer, due to exposure to hazardous substances from the collapsed buildings. Elizabeth Cascio, a former New York Fire Department emergency medical technician, described the toxic conditions she encountered at Ground Zero. She told the BBC she experienced sinus problems and headaches after responding to the attacks. "We all knew the air quality was not safe — it was very toxic in terms of how it felt," she said. "Initially, when I came off the bus and arrived at the Trade Center, you felt like you had to hold your breath. But there's only so long you can hold your breath." At a recent news conference, television host and 9/11 survivor advocate Jon Stewart noted that the documents show city officials did not recognize the danger of the air in downtown Manhattan until October 2001. He made a sarcastic remark, saying, "So to be fair to them, they only buried that information for 25 years." More documents will be released over the next year as the city continues its effort to increase transparency and accountability.