In the days and weeks after 9/11, as those working the pile began coughing, City Hall denied knowing anything about the hazardous toxins that wafted above Ground Zero.

Then, as people began dying, City Hall still denied having any information.

And even as the number of dead from 9/11 illness climbed to 6,000 - double the number who died in the attack - City Hall denied knowing anything.

Along with the legacy of heroism and sacrifice New York City is remembered for, one mayoral administration after another has left behind a legacy of anger and shame amid accusations that City Hall has been covering up what it knew about the dangerous chemicals people around Ground Zero were breathing.

That pivotal information, advocates say, could have saved lives.

 This entire history shows the worst of government bureaucracy,  said attorney Andrew Carboy, who is in the middle of an ongoing fight to get 25-year-old documents about the toxins over Ground Zero released.  To keep this information suppressed and then deny it exists is the laziest, most disingenuous form of obstruction that I can think of. 

 This government misconduct insults and disrespects survivors, the men and women who served, and the families of the fallen,  he said.  They honored the city with their bravery and selflessness. And the city can't even reveal quarter-century-old records to them? 

But the effort to uncover the truth may soon yield some results. As the city prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Mayor Mamdani has said the city's Law Department will create an online portal where the public can access city documents about air quality tests at Ground Zero following the terror attack.

Yet still, after all the hand-wringing over claims that the city had no 9/11 toxin documents to share from four mayoral administrations, advocates for 9/11 illness survivors are skeptical about what they are going to get once the digital floodgates open.

 We have no idea of what's going to become of this,  Carboy said.  The city has shattered my worst expectations. 

Something foul in the air

It was no secret that somet

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