Mamdani Releases Ground Zero Toxic Air Files As 9/11 Families Demand He Skip Ceremony

As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches Friday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces calls from a coalition of 9/11 families to skip the anniversary ceremony, while Governor Kathy Hochul says he should attend. The dispute follows Mamdani's past criticism of the Israeli government and use of the phrase "globalize the intifada," which critics have linked to violence against Jewish people. Separately, Mamdani announced his administration is releasing hundreds of thousands of pages of city records — including the Harding Memo and DEP files — detailing what officials knew about toxic air near Ground Zero and when. Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed also faced scrutiny this week over past social media posts comparing COVID-19 death tolls to 9/11 casualties, which his campaign says were deleted to prevent posts from before July 2023 from being taken out of context.