On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the New York City administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of previously withheld documents about air quality and health conditions following the collapse of the World Trade Center.
The documents provide new evidence that city officials were aware of the toxic conditions around Ground Zero and the potential health and legal consequences. At the time, however, officials including New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman reassured the public that the air was safe.
Jim Brosen, president of New York City’s Uniformed Fire Officers Association, spoke at a press conference following the release of the documents.
John Sferazo was a first responder, an ironworker with Iron Workers Local 361 and a member of Operating Engineers Local 138. He spoke with Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer about the disaster, the toxic exposure, and the government response.
Twenty-five years later, first responders, workers and residents continue to deal with serious illnesses associated with exposure at Ground Zero. They continue to fight for healthcare and recognition of the long-term consequences of that exposure.
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A four day conference called Turning the Tide: 9/11 25 Years was held in NYC this past Sept 10 to 13. The Redacted channel livestreamed the presentations. from which we’ve chosen one segment. We’ll hear an excerpt from False Flag, a film by civil engineer Jonathan Cole followed by some of his conference presentation. Early in the segment you’ll hear a reference to Northwoods. Operation Northwoods was a 1962 Defense Dept proposed “false flag” operation against Castro’s revolutionary Cuba whose plans called for US agents committing terrorist acts against US military and civilian targets so as to blame Cuba as a pretext for counter-revolutionary war. President Kennedy vetoed the plan at the time.
Conference presentations can be found at TurningtheTide911.org. Cole’s website is ic911.org
https://ic911.org/news/engineer-jonathan-cole-drops-his-latest-video-the-last-30-seconds/
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Next, WPFW Pacifica Radio host and producer Fahima Seck speaks with Larry Hamm, co-founder and chair of People’s Organization for Progress, about Democratic Socialists of America and the current political landscape.
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We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates that contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the Capitalism, Race & Democracy collective, with contributions from Steve Zeltzer, Fahima Seck, Ann Garrison, Polina Vasiliev, and Thomas O’Rourke.
You can find this and all previous episodes at our website “capitalism race and democracy dot ORG”. We have fixed our website, so make sure you are subscribed. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @PacificaCRD.
Thanks for listening.
Music:
David Rovics and Ai Tsuno, “The Ruling Class”
