Bombshell memo reveals city knew potential dangers of deadly 9/11 toxins: ‘Shameful’

A bombshell memo published Thursday proves the city knew about the potential dangers of the Sept. 11, 2001, toxins weeks after the terrorist attacks — with officials telling New Yorkers it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, local politicians said.

City Council President Julie Menin and Councilwoman Gail Brewer (D-Manhattan) unveiled an October 2001 memo, in which Big Apple lawyers acknowledged that the city could face tens of thousands of lawsuits, including from people who were exposed to toxins after being told they could return to the area around Ground Zero too soon.

“Health warnings caused individuals to return to the area too early (causing exposure to toxins or emotional harm) or too late (causing economic hardship),” the city Law Department wrote in the memo to Bob Harding, deputy mayor for economic development under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, it is truly shameful that the city would provide this information and refuse to release this information,” Minin, who ran a small business in the Financial District at the time of the attacks, said outside City Hall.

“This is a situation so shocking that New York City has failed to take responsibility for telling the downtown community and first responders that the air is safe to breathe and that we should all stay in lower Manhattan,” she said.

The document does not show that the city was aware of pollutants still filling the air when it advised New Yorkers that it was safe to return to the area around the World Trade Center.

But Menin said it was a “risk assessment” that showed city lawyers acknowledged they could face as many as 10,000 liability claims from residents over potential respiratory problems caused by pollutants including metals and asbestos.

There were approximately 50,000 first responders and others They were diagnosed with cancer related to the events of September 11.

The so-called “Hardinge Memo” was first referenced in journalist Wayne Barrett’s 2006 book The Grand Delusion, although it was never clear how he obtained it.

He was finally found last week by pro bono attorneys for September 11 victims at the University of Texas, which inherited Barrett’s estate.

Although the university told the victims’ attorneys in December that they had no record of the note, employees agreed to go through 300 boxes of Barrett’s documents — and found the missing note in January.

“It is outrageous, shocking, and heartbreaking that … the state of Texas tells us more about what the city knew and when it knew it than the sheriff’s offices have told us over the past 45 years,” said Andrew Carboy, an advocate for September 11 victims.

The release of the memo is part of a larger effort to create public records related to the September 11 attacks.

The city previously moved to reject attempts to release its toxicology records, at one point claiming it did not have documents — and only reversed course last year after a Brower-led DOC investigation found 68 boxes of 9/11 health-related documentsAccording to the lawyers of some of the victims.

Council members and lawyers for the victims are now calling on Mayor Zahran Mamdani to fund a $3 million project to investigate and publish the records.

“It’s time for the mayor to step up and do what he needs to do to get the right information to the people who really need it,” said Thomas Hart, a board member of 9/11 Health Watch.

Newly appointed mayor’s office attorney Steve Banks “indicated favorably to both of us that he is committed to doing this” at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Menin and Brewer said.

Former Mayor Eric Adams once refused to release a trove of documents showing the alleged cover-up – Unless the city is granted immunity from lawsuits.

“There’s a lot we need to know, as we can see from this memo, as more documents emerge from the 68 boxes,” Rep. Dan Goldman added on the steps of City Hall.

“The idea that monetary and fiscal concerns will dictate New York City’s actions for 25 years is disgusting.”

-Additional reporting by Haley Brown