Mayor Adams, open the WTC records

As a NYPD officer in 2001, Eric Adams was a first responder on 9/11 and the days that followed the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center and the murder of thousands of New Yorkers, when the federal government assured everyone that the air at Ground Zero was fine to breathe.

Adams and all the other responders who toiled on The Pile for the rescue of the injured and the recovery of the bodies and the rebuilding later on were lied to. The air was not safe and a great many people, from firefighters to cops to construction workers, have gotten sick and died, with billions being paid in compensation for their suffering and to cover their medical costs.

The truth must come out and now, as mayor, Adams must open up the city’s files regarding the disaster.

Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman have renewed a longstanding request for Adams to release any relevant documents about the WTC being held in the files.

Instead of saying yes, Adams is ducking behind his lawyers and saying that he’ll readily hand over everything if Congress passes a law shielding New York City from being sued based on what’s in the hidden papers: “We are happy to work with your offices to determine potential federal funding sources and any necessary federal legislation to make production of documents economically and legally feasible for the City of New York.”

Such lawsuits are unlikely, as anyone who received a settlement from the federal Victim Compensation Fund had to agree to not take legal action. Furthermore, in the weeks after 9/11, Congress put a cap of $350 million in claims on how much New York City could be held liable.

As the world knows well, Rudy Giuliani was mayor at the time and his administration created and collected records about the biggest catastrophe in New York history. Neither Mike Bloomberg nor Bill de Blasio, listening to their lawyers, relinquished the documents. More than 20 years on, Adams must direct his administration to come clean.