25 years after 9/11: dark legacy continues
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Twenty-five years after 9/11, New York City released 170,000+ pages on air-quality deception.
The toxic aftermath still kills, and the War on Terror's costs keep mounting.
Background
On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida hijackers crashed four planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing about 3,000 people. In the years since, the attacks spawned two wars, expanded surveillance powers and left a toxic legacy: at least 9,600 people have died from exposure to Ground Zero toxins, according to the CDC. The 25th anniversary falls as New York City releases documents showing officials misled the public about air quality, and as the War on Terror's costs — from Islamophobia to open-ended conflict — remain contested.
How it unfolded
- Sep 11, 2001Hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center's north tower at 8:46 a.m.; the attacks killed about 3,000 people, including 343 FDNY members.
- Sep 19, 2001Eight days after the attacks, Village Voice writers published an account of the aftermath; then-EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman released a statement that New York's air and water were safe.
- Jan 6, 2021The mob assault on the Capitol.
- 2025The assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk last year.
- Aug 20, 2026FDNY member Scott Brian Larsen sits for a photograph at Engine 325 & Ladder 163 in Queens, where his father served during the Sept. 11 attacks.
- Sep 9, 2026Christie Coombs, widow of Flight 11 victim Jeff Coombs, continues to honor his memory through community service and support for families in need.
- Sep 10, 2026Twenty-five years after 9/11, Americans still live with its legacy; FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge's legacy lives on; BU experts discuss the 25th anniversary.
- Sep 11, 2026New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of documents detailing how local and federal officials misled the public on air quality around the World Trade Center site.
- Sep 11, 2026 (Friday)Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. are scheduled to be in New York to mark the moment; Mr. Trump will be at the Pentagon, where he will give a speech.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Then-EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman stated that New York's air and water were safe, though records show she made the statement before the agency conducted any official air quality tests.
- Expert
- BU professor Joseph Wippl said the US wounded itself unnecessarily and tragically continues to do so.
- Analysts
- Radley Balko, writing in the New York Times, argued that civil libertarians were mostly ignored and presidential power kept growing across administrations, including the right to remotely assassinate anyone with armed drones.
- Public
- Pedro Francisco, a security guard and 32BJ SEIU member, recalled being numb like most people, thinking of friends whenever names are called at roll call, and said the union helped with unemployment paperwork and food.
- Support
- Christie Coombs, widow of Flight 11 victim Jeff Coombs, said she thinks of all Jeff has missed and that the helpers came to them, motivating her to start a foundation and pay it forward.
Still unverified
Records show Whitman made her safe-air statement before the EPA conducted any official air quality tests; the 170,000+ pages of documents detailing how officials misled the public were released by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. A recently released report revealed New Yorkers were misled about air quality.