NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin requests funds for 9/11 ground zero air quality investigation
When did New York City officials first learn that the air at ground zero following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack was dangerous?
That's what City Council members want to know as they demand new budget funds to mount a full-scale investigation.
Speaker Menin, activist Feal pushing for $4.5 million
Council Speaker Julie Menin and 9/11 activist John Feal didn't have any problem breathing the air as they strolled in that area of Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, but they did in the weeks and months following the attack.
"We were told again that the air is safe to breath. We now know that that was not true," Menin said.
Menin, whose family lived in the area, lost her mother to 9/11-related cancer. Feal, a demolition supervisor at ground zero, has watched as thousands have died of 9/11-related diseases. They both want $4.5 million in budget funds for an investigation into when the city actually knew the air was toxic.
"$4.5 million is a small ask for the lies, for the neglect, for the corruption that the city has produced over the last 25 years," Feal said.
Dozens of boxes of air quality records finally discovered
Officials want the money to fund a new probe by the Department of Investigation. The move comes after a cache of 68 boxes of records were finally discovered. The discovery followed decades of city officials denying there were records about air quality after the attack.
"We need DOI to be funded. We need to get the information for the obvious reason. We want to know the truth, and so we are very, very hopeful that this will have a positive outcome," Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer said.
After the attack, former New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, who was then the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, issued a report saying the air was safe.
It was only later that thousands got sick.
"Maybe the 8,000-plus that have passed away, maybe it would only be 2,300. Maybe it would be 3,700," Feal said.
"I do believe the city absolutely knew"
"Do you believe that the city knew at that time that the air was toxic?" CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer asked.
"I do believe the city absolutely knew," Menin responded.
As for whether the money will be allocated, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani told Kramer the request will be evaluated as part of the budget process. The council and the mayor have until the end of the month to agree on a spending plan for the next fiscal year.
