Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Lillian Bonsignore, Fire Department of the City of New York commissioner, released a World Trade Center 25-Year Health Impact Report. The report details the most recent long-term health findings, which affected members of the rescue and recovery effort on Sept. 11, 2001.
More than 10,000 FDNY members are certified with a 9/11-related physical health condition, according to the Office of the Mayor. “Our obligation to them and their families did not end when the fires were extinguished or when the rubble was cleared," said Mamdani. “This report is a reminder of a debt that New York can never fully repay.”
The report found that 86 percent of World Trade Center responders diagnosed with cancer are alive five years after diagnosis, compared to 63 percent of state residents who were not exposed to the World Trade Center and were diagnosed with the same cancers.
More than 10,500 members are certified for at least one physical health condition, and nearly 4,500 are certified for at least one mental health condition. The number of reported PTSD and depression symptoms, however, has decreased since the initial post-9/11 period.
The most common cancer among FDNY WTCHP members has been nonmelanoma skin cancer and prostate cancer.
According to the press release from the Office of the Mayor, data from the report was “instrumental” in documenting long-term health consequences of 9/11 and demonstrating the need for federal support. The research helped to inform the authorization of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2010, as well as its re-authorization in 2015. It also provided full funding in 2026 for WTCHP’s care for responders for the rest of their lives.
“At the FDNY, when we say we Never Forget, we mean it, and that is especially true for our sickened members,” said Bonsignore. “Twenty-five years later, we continue to see and feel the lasting health impacts of that day, and we know the research done here continues to help us better understand these illnesses and save lives.”
