Families Of 9/11 Victims Send Blunt Message To Mamdani

Families who lost loved ones in the September 11 terrorist attacks are sending New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani a direct message ahead of this week’s memorial ceremony at Ground Zero: “Please do not come.”

Relatives of victims gathered outside City Hall on Tuesday to deliver a petition opposing Mamdani’s attendance at the ceremony marking 25 years since the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. The petition has reportedly attracted nearly 100,000 signatures as anger continues to build over the mayor’s political record and controversial associations.

“This mayor is not serving us,” said Charles Wolf, whose wife was killed on 9/11. “He’s serving himself. We are asking respectfully that he not show up, even though there is going to be other politicians there. These are the politicians that helped us push beneficial laws through and literally held our hand during that time. Mayor Mamdani has not shown any of that, none of it.”

“He just wants to be there because he wants to be there. So we are asking him to respect the fact that that trauma is revived during the ceremony. It is a private ceremony. It is not a public ceremony.” Wolf finished, “Mayor Mamdani, please do not come.”

Giovanni Galante, who lost his 29-year-old wife, Grace, in the World Trade Center attack, organized the effort. Galante and other relatives have made clear that their objection is not based on Mamdani’s Muslim faith, but on his refusal to forcefully separate himself from activists and rhetoric they consider hostile to the United States.

“We’re not against Muslims; we’re not against Jews; we’re not against anyone,” Galante previously said. “We’re against people who are against America.”

The dispute centers partly on Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Critics have also targeted his relationship with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who infamously said America “deserved” the September 11 attacks, and his appearance alongside Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom federal prosecutors named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The mayor has given no indication that he plans to honor the families’ request. Mamdani confirmed Monday that he intends to attend the main memorial ceremony and several other events on Friday.

Mamdani said he wants the week’s attention placed on the families whose loved ones were killed and the first responders who rushed toward danger. His office previously said he would stand alongside those forever affected by the attack and reaffirm that the country will never forget.

Several victims’ relatives say they will peacefully turn their backs on Mamdani or refuse to interact with him if he appears. Galante said families have no plans to confront the mayor or physically prevent him from entering the ceremony, but many will make their opposition unmistakable through silence.

Angie Pesce, whose brother Danny was among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the North Tower, accused Mamdani of attending out of spite. Maureen Santora, whose 23-year-old firefighter son Christopher died in the South Tower, said she hopes the mayor does not speak during the service.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has also urged Mamdani to stay away. Giuliani, who led the city during the attacks, said Mamdani’s planned attendance “offends” him.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defended the mayor’s decision, arguing that his absence would offend many other families. The group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows has similarly supported Mamdani’s right to attend and accused opponents of improperly politicizing the ceremony.

Days before the anniversary, Mamdani signed executive orders declaring September 11 an annual “Day of Remembrance and Service” and creating a task force intended to improve the city’s emergency preparedness. Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola, who joined the families’ City Hall effort, dismissed the moves as empty gestures arriving only after public pressure intensified.

The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Friday’s ceremony will commemorate the 25th anniversary by reading the victims’ names and observing moments of silence marking the attacks and collapse of the Twin Towers. (New York Post, The Guardian)