911 Health Watch Statement on Court Decision Granting Discovery in Article 78 Proceeding
May 15, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Benjamin Chevat
911 Health Watch
646 477 1461
Ben.Chevat@911HealthWatch.org
Matthew McCauley
Turken, Heath & McCauley, LLP.
914 363 6355
mmccauley@thmllp.com
Andrew Carboy
Law Offices of Andrew J. Carboy LLC
212 520 7565
acarboy@carboylaw.com
Benjamin Chevat, Executive Director of 911 Health Watch and plaintiff in Article 78 stated:
We are glad that Judge Clynes has granted us discovery in our Article 78 proceeding against the City of New York. We recognize that the judge’s decision is an extraordinary remedy, but we feel it is clear from the record, and from what the City said in court on Monday, that discovery is needed.
On Monday, while we understand Mayor Mamdani was visiting the 9/11 Museum that day, his lawyer was in court essentially defending the Adam’s administration denial that DEP had any records at all of what the Giuliani Administration did in response to 9/11.
I have been saying since Mayor Mamdani was elected last year that he could be the Mayor who finally answers the question: what did the City know about the hazards caused by the toxic chemicals at Ground Zero, and when did it know it? But he can’t be that Mayor if his lawyer is defending the prior administration’s actions.
For the thousands of 9/11 responders and survivors still dealing with the impact of the toxins at Ground Zero, the Mayor needs to say publicly that he will release all the records relating to what the City of New York knew about the hazards at Ground Zero and he needs to announce his support for the $3 million needed for the City Council’s DOI investigation to be completed as that is the only way we will know exactly what the City knew and when it knew it.
Explained Andrew Carboy:
We all heard Mayor Mamdani and Chief Counsel, Steve Banks, pledge the release of the City’s September 11th archive, earlier this year. And yet, here we are, months later and 25 years since the World Trade Center collapse, without full disclosures.
At the same time, the Mayor’s Office now denies to 911 Healthwatch that it has any records from September through December 2001. City staff level attorneys and career officials continue to battle the release with maximum effort, as recently as during this Monday’s DEP hearing before Justice Clynes.
The September 11th community asks: What is the reason for this disconnect between the messages of the leaders and their employees’ obstruction? The career staffers should stop worrying about protecting the political legacies of past Mayors and refocus. Heed the words of your bosses, and start paying attention to the real legacies of the World Trade Center collapse: the endless illnesses and the lingering trauma. Answering their questions as to what the City knew and when it knew it about the airborne dangers in lower Manhattan may bring a measure of closure and inform future disaster responses. In the meantime, 911 Healthwatch and its volunteer counsel will continue their fight to get the answers New Yorkers deserve.
Matthew McCauley stated:
By ordering the City to produce high ranking officials to answer questions under oath about their conduct concerning the handling and production of 9/11 documents, the Court is sending a message to this administration that it will be held accountable for the sins of prior administrations.
Unfortunately for Mayor Mamdani he has inherited his predecessors excuse that “carpet replacement” is the reason why 9/11 documents were misplaced or found. He is likely as just as surprised of that excuse as the Court full of 9/11 responders and survivors who were speechless. Now would be the time for Mayor Mamdani to shift course and offer full transparency concerning what is known about these documents as well as the original documents that are the subject of our efforts that have yet to be produced.
To accomplish this the Mayor must fully fund the DOI investigation that was ordered last year by the City Council and order his Corporation Counsel to produce everything withheld. What we do know about carpeting is that the 9/11 community were exposed to and breathing in the toxic remnants of burning carpeting from Ground Zero and it is still making them sick and killing them.
Background Explanation of May 11 Court Hearing
On May 11, 2026, the Honorable James G. Clynes, Justice of the New York Supreme Court, heard oral argument in Chevat v. New York City Department of Environmental Conservation, an Article 78 proceeding concerning the DEP’s failure to respond to the Freedom of Information Law request of 911 Health Watch, first responders and their families.
The Court has not yet issued its written decision, which may address additional issues; however, 911 Health Watch has won the right to take sworn testimony from responsible City decisionmakers.
On September 8, 2023, 911 Health Watch requested records from the DEP regarding the response of the City to the collapse of the World Trade Center, along with historical documents and disaster preparation materials. These public records concern risk assessments made by the City for the reopening of lower Manhattan in September 2001, and the City’s knowledge of airborne toxic hazards, existing at that time. We seek to understand why Mayor Giuliani requested liability protection from toxic exposure claims while the City repeatedly reassured the public that air quality remained “safe and acceptable” after the World Trade Center collapse.
For years, DEP denied these records existed, making these official denials under oath and through its lawyers. Through its pro bono attorneys, Andrew Carboy and Matthew McCauley, 911 Health Watch filed a court proceeding in June 2024, challenging DEP’s actions and obstruction.
After fighting Petitioner, rejecting his FOIL request, denying his administrative appeal and, then, moving to dismiss his Article 78 proceeding, the DEP finally admitted, last September, to possession of 68 boxes of responsive records, some 340,000 pages. These included a 2002 directive to DEP, from the New York City Law Department, to preserve all World Trade Center records after scanning them into a database. DEP knew or should have known that the requested documents not only existed but were stored electronically and catalogued.
As a result, 911 Health Watch requested testimony from DEP decision makers responsible for the obstruction and representations that no documents existed. These officials should explain, under oath, why they issued sworn denials, rejected our appeal, and aggressively moved to dismiss our case as a “baseless fishing expedition.” Why did DEP suddenly “reverse course” and admit to having the records all along? The integrity of this proceeding, government transparency and the viability of public records access laws are threatened by such misconduct. DEP, of course, fought our request, even as Mayor Mamdani and new Corporation Counsel, Steve Banks, pledge transparency and the release of the City’s September 11th archive.
We are pleased to report the Court ordered two DEP decisionmakers to appear for questioning on July 1st and July 8th. These arrangements were made during the oral argument. The Court directed the City attorney to finalize the witnesses and dates before concluding the hearing. One of the witnesses is DEP’s chief public records access officer, who rejected our appeal in the first place, back in 2024.
During the argument, the City Law Department claimed staffers “discovered” the records in 2025 because of new carpet installation at DEP headquarters. The City’s attorney offered to “collaboratively” resolve 911 Health Watch’s claims, if we dropped our case, but we declined. As 911 Health Watch argued before the Court, the City has had multiple chances, over the past three years, to simply release the documents. Instead, DEP and, now, the Mayor’s Office have fought our efforts at every step of the way. We welcome the Court’s attention and intervention in this dispute. Earlier, the Mayor’s Office rejected efforts by the U.S. Congress to obtain this same information. We are awaiting the Court’s written decision and will provide additional information once the decision is released.
Documents
December 31, 2025, DOI Letter to Speaker Adams
NYS Court Docket 911 Health Watch Article 78 on DEP
NYS Court Docket 911 Health Watch Article 78 on Mayors Office
For more information, go to our website here:
911 Health Watch Website on Effort to Get New York City to Release 9/11 Documents
###