Mayor Mamdani has turned New York’s LinkNYC kiosks into a citywide 9/11 memorial. The Mayor’s Office launched a digital tribute called Memory Markers that pins the stories of the New Yorkers who aided the rescue and recovery after the September 11, 2001 attacks to the streets where they actually did the work, sharing dozens of geolocated narratives across the city.
The idea, laid out in City Hall’s announcement, is to make the sidewalks themselves into a walking tribute. The markers run from a warehouse in Midtown to a lobby on Worth Street to a ferry crossing the harbor, each one attached to a first responder or survivor who was there.
The kiosks are one piece of a much larger 25th-anniversary push, which the city is marking on Friday, September 11. And the heavier news came the day before the tribute went live.
On Tuesday, Mamdani announced the city’s first public records portal dedicated to the environmental and health impacts of 9/11, releasing more than 170,000 pages of city records that had been kept from the public until now. That includes the long-sought Harding Memo and the “68 boxes” of Department of Environmental Protection files discovered a few years ago, plus records about 7 World Trade Center. His FY27 budget sets aside $34 million to build and maintain the portal.
“These are documents that show what the city knew about the toxic air around Ground Zero, when they knew it, and how they acted to limit liability,” Mamdani said. “They show how asbestos was found nearly everywhere that inspectors tested.” He said the 170,000 pages are only the first release, with more coming over the next twelve months, and that everything on the portal will be free to every New Yorker.
Mamdani also announced that his administration had settled two lawsuits brought by 9/11 Health Watch, ending what he called a multi-year legal battle over records on air quality and health concerns after the attacks. “Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity, instead choosing to bury them in legal arguments and red tape,” he said. “We will do no such thing.” As part of the settlement, the city said it will appoint dedicated staff at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and NYC Public Schools to help New Yorkers use the records as proof of presence in the exposure zone to obtain federal compensation.
The stakes, Mamdani said, are still growing. “Now, twenty-five years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself,” he said, adding that “people got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them that they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”
He made the announcement at a City Hall press conference Tuesday alongside Jon Stewart, the comedian and longtime advocate for 9/11 survivors and first responders, and was joined by survivors, first responders and their families, Congressman Jerry Nadler, former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Councilmember Gale Brewer.
Stewart credited the people behind him with forcing the release. “To be fair to them, they only buried that information for 25 years,” he said, gesturing to the survivors, families, legislators and aides at the podium. “We’ve lost three times as many people to 9-11 related illnesses as we did on 9/11. Three times as many, almost 10,000 people. There’s more work to be done.” He pressed residents and former students who were near Ground Zero, not just uniformed responders, to sign up for the federal health program.
Mamdani closed his remarks on Luis Alvarez, a retired NYPD bomb squad detective who testified before the House Judiciary Committee seven years ago while undergoing his 69th round of chemotherapy. “You all said you would ‘Never Forget.’ Well, I am here to make sure that you don’t,” Mamdani quoted him as telling members of Congress. Alvarez died less than three weeks later. His brother Phil attended the announcement.
Asked by a reporter whether Rudy Giuliani had lied and should stay away from Friday’s memorial, Mamdani did not say directly. “I think that the focus of memorial services should be on the New Yorkers who were killed that day, their families, the survivors, the first responders,” he said. “I don’t think it should be on politicians.” Pressed again on whether Giuliani lied, he said, “I leave it to New Yorkers to make their judgements, and what we want to do is finally allow them the documents they’ve long been demanding.”
The full set of Memory Markers, and the stories behind each one, is mapped at on.nyc.gov/25years and on the Memory Markers map.
Featured image: NYC Mayor's Office
