Exclusive | 9/11 cancer survivor’s petition urges NYC to release all files after bombshell Ground Zero memo
A 9/11 cancer survivor is calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to release all city documents about deadly Ground Zero toxins — after a bombshell memo showed officials knew they could be deadly all along.
Ann Marie Principe, 66, said the new mayor campaigned on promoting “transparency in government” and he should make public any documents that show health and environmental concerns at Ground Zero after the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
“We’re asking the mayor to release all documents related to health and the environment,” said Principe, who ran a model and talent agency near the WTC site. “It’s not his fault. It’s a mess that fell in his lap.”
But it’s now Mamdani’s job to clean up that mess, said Principe, who is battling a second bout of breast cancer and has small airway disease.
More than 1,200 people have signed her “Urge Mayor Mamdani to release the 9/11 document” change.org petition.
A bombshell memo made public last month proved the city knew about the potential risks of toxins weeks after the terror attacks — but officials told New Yorkers it was safe to return to Lower Manhattan anyway.
The city previously moved to dismiss attempts to disclose its own toxin records, at one point claiming it had no documents – and only reversed course last year after a Department of Investigation probe spearheaded by Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) found 68 boxes of 9/11 health-related documents, according to lawyers for some of the victims.
“I said more people would die after 9/11 from getting sick than those killed on that day,” Principe said. “Unfortunately that turned out to be true.”
Some 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks but another 7,000 people have died in the years since from cancers and illnesses potentially linked to exposure to Ground Zero toxins.
Principe said, “it’s the most opportune time” to release the documents and expose the truth as the 25th anniversary of the tragedy approaches.
“This can promote healing for those of us who have lived with unanswered questions all these years. And it will honor those we have lost,” Principe said in the petition. “We urge you to open the pathways for healing by making these documents public. Our future demands clarity from our past.”
The petition recommends that Mamdani create a Ground Zero Task Force composed of 9/11 family members, survivors, downtown residents, volunteers, small businesses, legislators, and others.
Principe acknowledged the release of documents could be a “pandora’s box” that could trigger negligence lawsuits against the city that responded to the worst terror attack in American history.
“If they handled it properly in the first place,” Principe said, “they wouldn’t have this problem.”
She recalled there was tremendous pressure despite the health concerns to quickly reopen Wall Street, the financial capital of the US, after the terror attacks that toppled the Twin Towers.
“They made a decision that we were disposable. My life had no value,” Principe said.
“We were the price that was paid. I’m home sick with my second bout of cancer because I trusted my government. The only way to go forward is to let go of the past.”
Mamdani’s office had no immediate comment.
