Overview
- City Council Speaker Julie Menin requested $4.5 million on Tuesday to fund a Department of Investigation inquiry into what city officials knew about Lower Manhattan air after Sept. 11, 2001.
- The push follows the discovery of 68 boxes of post‑9/11 air‑quality records and a recent court ruling that the city acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in denying access to those materials.
- A council‑mandated city study into 9/11 environmental harms remains incomplete and is due by July 2027, with only the Department of Environmental Protection having submitted its report so far.
- Survivors and family advocates, including Menin and activist John Feal, say the probe is needed to secure accountability and medical answers for people sickened by the attacks; Menin has said her own mother died of a 9/11‑related cancer.
- The mayor’s office will review the request during end‑of‑month budget negotiations with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the Council’s decision will determine whether the DOI can begin a funded investigation that could prompt further disclosures and legal follow‑ups.