Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's ongoing hospitalization is related to serious health repercussions of his heroism following the 9/11 terror attacks nearly 25 years ago, and the Republican stalwart's condition appears to be improving, Fox News Digital has learned.
Giuliani was in the final year of his two-term mayoralty when terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, killing thousands. He was two blocks away when the first tower fell at 9:59 a.m. ET on that otherwise sunny Tuesday and felt the effects first-hand, close-up.
Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman told Fox News Digital on Monday that the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former presidential candidate is currently recovering from pneumonia and still being monitored at a Florida hospital as a "precautionary measure."
"On September 11, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which led to a restrictive airway disease diagnosis," Goodman said in a statement he also later posted to X.
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"This disease adds complications to any emerging respiratory issue, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain his blood pressure."
Sometimes called "World Trade Center Cough," restrictive airway disease is a lung condition caused by inhalation of heavily-alkaline dust from materials like concrete, as well as asbestos and glass that was pulverized when the towers collapsed and shrouded about one-fifth of Manhattan Island in some level of dust-induced darkness.
Thousands of first responders have battled or died from the disease, leading famous Tri-State figures like comedian Jon Stewart to publicly take up the mantle of their cause.
Goodman said Monday that Giuliani is now breathing on his own and has primary medical providers at his side.
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"Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter — as he has demonstrated throughout his life — and he is winning this battle," the top aide said.
"His family deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support," Goodman continued. "The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we are feeling that strength today. He remains in critical but stable condition. Keep the prayers coming."
Giuliani is reportedly being treated at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, according to the Palm Beach Post.
He previously survived a fight with prostate cancer in 2000 and later contracted COVID-19 in 2020 when he was a senior citizen and considered at high-risk for facing adverse impacts of the virus.
Giuliani was also hospitalized in New Hampshire in 2025 when he was seriously injured in a car accident after leaving a minor league baseball game. He fractured his thoracic vertebra and used a wheelchair and chest brace for public appearances during recovery.
The former longtime prosecutor was credited as the key U.S. Attorney responsible for deconstructing the ancient nexus between organized crime and unions in New York City — as Giuliani successfully prosecuted the "Five Families" in the 1980s and successfully sought sentences in excess of 100 years in some cases.
Giuliani is also known for his lighter side, including in a 1993 "Seinfeld" episode in which he pledges, as part of a spoof of his real-life mayoral campaign at the time, to impanel a task force to get to the bottom of yogurt being falsely marketed around the city as "non-fat."
Giuliani's pledge wins him the election in that episode, and leads to the demise of George Costanza's nemesis Lloyd Braun, who had been employed by Mayor David Dinkins' campaign.
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After 9/11, Giuliani launched a consulting firm and later an unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid.
His friendship with then-mogul Donald Trump continued into the latter's presidency and earned him a spot as a close ally and confidant of the president.
Trump, a fellow Florida Republican, dubbed Giuliani "the "greatest mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American patriot." In September 2025, Trump announced he was awarding Giuliani with the presidential medal of freedom.
Fox News' Heather Lacy contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News - Politics
