NEW YORK (AP) -- Many of the audio and written records of the Fire Department's response to the World Trade Center attacks should never be made public, the mayor's office says.
In response to a lawsuit filed by The New York Times, the Bloomberg administration cited several reasons for wanting to keep secret the audiotapes of dispatchers' and firefighters' communications, and a department collection of firefighters' accounts of the attack.
City lawyers and administration officials say a federal court in Virginia has barred them from releasing much of the material, citing its value in the case against terror suspect, Zacarias Moussaoui, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Officials said even if the order was lifted, they would not release the material because it would invade the privacy of firefighters who responded to the trade center attack, and the families of those killed Sept. 11.
``The records requested by The Times were compiled for law enforcement purposes,'' according to legal documents filed by Michael A. Cardozo, the city's corporation counsel.
He added: ``Second, both the oral histories and the radio transmissions, especially the 911 calls, contain highly personal and emotionally charged material. Victims were recorded as they were experiencing life-threatening circumstances, in some instances as they were dying.''
The Times has disputed those claims and said the records would be of enormous historical value. The paper also argued that the Moussaoui order only binds the prosecution and defense, not city officials.
