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NYC's top watchdog launches probe into what mayors knew about post-9/11 air
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 18, 2026
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By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 18, 2026
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New York City’s top watchdog agency has hired a team of lawyers to investigate exactly what city officials knew about health hazards from toxic dust created by the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
In a notice issued on Friday, the Department of Investigation said it selected a firm to “ascertain the knowledge possessed by mayoral administrations on environmental toxins produced by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.”
The investigation is mandated by a City Council resolution passed in July 2025. The department’s plan to hire the outside counsel to help with the probe comes just over a week after Mayor Zohran Mamdani released some 170,000 documents related to the air quality around Ground Zero following the attacks that revealed officials had early concerns over asbestos — and legal liability — even as government leaders publicly told New Yorkers the air was safe to breathe.
The investigation department is finalizing a two-year, $3.8 million contract to the law firm Epstein Becker and Green PC to help with what the notice described as a “time-sensitive” probe. The law firm did not respond to a request for comment.
Department of Investigation spokesperson Diane Struzzi said the investigation is set to begin within the next two months. The agency is required to submit its findings to the City Council.
Probes by the investigation department often lead to criminal charges. The agency took part in the criminal investigation that led to previous Mayor Eric Adams being indicted on federal corruption charges.
Still, Michael Barasch, an attorney who represents tens of thousands of 9/11 victims, said city officials are unlikely to face criminal scrutiny as a result of the new 9/11 investigation. He noted former Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani can both point to test results from the federal EPA released soon after the attacks to defend their administrations’ choices.
"The Giuliani administration and the Bloomberg administration can both hide behind the results announced by the federal EPA five days after 9/11 who assured everybody that the air was safe,” he said. “ Those buildings were on fire for 99 days. Of course we knew it was unsafe, but we actually wanted to believe the federal EPA, who announced five days after 9/11 that the air was safe.”
Barasch said the city’s lawyers were “more concerned about lawsuits coming at the city in New York than they were concerned about the safety of New Yorkers” during the years following the attacks.
Brett Eagleson, president of the advocacy group 9/11 Justice, welcomed the investigation.
“This should have been done 20 years ago,” he said. “It's my supposition that when this information comes out, there's gonna be a lot of upset people, and there's going to be a lot of liability on the side of the city of New York.”
“It's just unimaginable the amount and dollar value of justice and compensation that these individuals are going to be owed,” he added.
Representatives for Giuliani and Bloomberg did not immediately return requests for comment.
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Politics
health
manhattan
new york city
public safety
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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