{"id":8302,"date":"2026-09-07T10:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T10:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8302"},"modified":"2026-09-07T10:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T10:37:03","slug":"exclusive-former-ny-gov-george-pataki-reveals-he-has-9-11-related-illness-days-before-25th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8302","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Former NY Gov. George Pataki reveals he has 9\/11-related illness days before 25th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Gov. George Pataki, who led the Empire State through the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and its aftermath, revealed he is fighting lung disease related to his exposure at Manhattan\u2019s Ground Zero.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Former Missouri high school valedictorian busted with stash of party drug \u2018poppers\u2019 in Argentina \u2014 in what could be largest seizure ever<\/a><\/p>\n

Pataki, a Republican who served between 1995 and 2006, told The Post in an exclusive interview that he suffers from restrictive airway disease that stems from his exposure to toxins at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center\u2019s Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n

He was diagnosed with the condition over the last five years, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just look at it as I\u2019m one of the lucky ones,\u201d Pataki told The Post, humbly deflecting questions about his condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, 25 years later, I feel great. I have this minor residual impact from that time. But compared to so many others, I consider myself very lucky,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A rep for former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani confirmed that the politician-turned Trump attorney had also been diagnosed with restrictive airway disease after he landed in the hospital in critical condition with a case of pneumonia earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The disease, caused by toxic dust and the fine particulate matter that filled the air in southern Manhattan after the towers fell, makes more common illnesses such as the flu particularly dangerous.<\/p>\n

Pataki, who had never before revealed his condition, continued pointing the spotlight to those working around him at the time, especially the first responders and other public servants who flocked to lower Manhattan to rebuild after Islamic terrorists intentionally crashed highjacked commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center, causing them to collapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who were with me at Ground Zero over and over for months after those attacks, many of them have serious illnesses, far more serious than anything I might be experiencing,\u201d Pataki said, noting that he has not been diagnosed with cancer related to Ground Zero.<\/p>\n

Read more Hundreds ride 343 miles from Boston to Ground Zero to honor FDNY 9\/11 heroes<\/a><\/p>\n

Pataki, who previously served in the state Senate and as mayor of the Westchester County city of Peekskill, was the last Republican to win statewide office in New York.<\/p>\n

He recently drew headlines when he suggested democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani should consider staying away from the remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero unless he changes course and condemns the antisemitic slogan \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani, a Muslim and harsh critic of Israel, has previously defended use of the statement, saying disagrees the rallying cry is an incitement of violence against Jews. The American Jewish Committee says the phrase calls for \u201crising up\u201d against Israel.<\/p>\n

Pataki also suggested Mamdani should made a clean break from commentators who praise the attacks like left-wing superstar Hasan Piker.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he says he will have nothing to do with Hasan Piker, and if he says he will condemn the statement, \u2018globalize the intifada,\u2019 then I would have no problem with him being here,\u201d Pataki told The Post.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But he\u2019s not optimistic that will happen before Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of respect for those who died and out of the respect for their families and the first responders, he should make the decision not to go,\u201d Pataki said.<\/p>\n

Still, Pataki said that the ceremony should be void of politics and should \u201cgo off without any disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Labor Day: A holiday to salute America\u2019s workers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think basically just ignoring his presence might be the best,\u201d Pataki said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pataki, a former Westchester state senator and New York\u2019s most recent Republican Governor, told The Post in an interview that he suffers from restrictive airway disease due to his exposure at ground zero, having been diagnosed wth the condition within the last five years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive | Former NY Gov. 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