Brave New Yorkers are still awaiting the release of potentially damaging documents 21 years after the awful events of 9/11.
Concerns are that the documents will reveal the extent of the knowledge the city had about the dangers of toxic air at Ground Zero in the wake of the collapse of the Twin Towers.
The city didn't just suffer the trauma of watching two jet planes crash into two of its most iconic buildings, killing thousands, but the aftermath of the building collapse was dangerous to residents and emergency responders involved in the clean-up as toxic dust was spewed into the air.
In July, Democratic Party Congressman Carolyn Malone called on Mayor Eric Adams to release the documents. The city is reported to be waiting on the guarantee it cannot be sued after the documents are made public.
She said: "It has been almost 21 years since these attacks, and people deserve the truth about what the city knew in the aftermath.
"I hope that Mayor Adams, a 9/11 responder himself, will overrule his lawyers and let this critical information come to light for all that have been affected since that tragic day."
In the aftermath, the World Trade Centre Health Programme was set up to pay for treatment of the illnesses caused by exposure at Ground Zero.
Currently seeking extra funding, over 112,000 people are enrolled in the programme with various illnesses from cancers, respiratory disorders including asthma and mental health issues as people continue to deal with the trauma of the day.
As the US was held under siege by Al-Qaeda hijackers, two more planes were downed on on September 11, 2001 with one hitting the Pentagon in Washington DC and the other crashing in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The Shanksville and Pentagon crashes did not require the same level of clean-up as the smouldering wreckage left at Ground Zero in New York City. In fact, people in the undamaged parts of the Pentagon ring went to work the very next day.
The clean-up operation in Manhattan was massive, however, as fires in the rubble burned for over 100 days and needed a constant supply of water to keep them at bay.
By the time the cleanup had finished, around 1.8 million tonnes had been removed from 'The Pile', around 108,000 truckloads.
The operation was also extremely dangerous and only 20% of the workers tasked with getting rid of the rubble in the days after the collapse had masks to protect them from the air filled with asbestos, lead, benzene, glass fibres, crushed cement, diesel exhaust fumes and even jet fuel.
A study by Centres for Disease Control’s National Center for Environmental Health in 2002 found that responders were suffering from a "WTC cough".
Calls for documents to be released continue as the city attempts to protect itself. It already has a liability cap equivalent to around £289 million.
A report by the New York Times found that a memo from October 2001 estimated the city could face up to 10,000 liability claims.
A lawsuit on behalf of 10,000 responders paid out more than £578 million in 2010.
Kimberly Flynn, the Director of 9/11 Environmental Action called the documents remaining undisclosed to the public a "disgrace" and "yet another betrayal of New Yorkers’ trust".
Already released records - the city was forced to hand them over - show that firefighters did not have "air-purifying respirators" as they worked on Ground Zero.
