Families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks plan to ignore Mayor Zohran Mamdani if he attends the 25th memorial ceremony at Ground Zero. A petition calling for Mamdani's absence from the solemn event has garnered over 98,000 signatures and is slated to be delivered to City Hall on September 8.
Relatives expressed outrage and discomfort with the prospect of Mamdani's attendance due to his past statements and associations with individuals who have defended terrorists and minimized the impact of the attacks. "He'll show up to be spiteful," said Angie Pesce, whose brother died in the North Tower. Maureen Santora, whose firefighter son was killed in the South Tower, echoed these sentiments, hoping Mamdani "doesn’t say a single word" during the ceremony.
Jeanette Puccio-Pick, who was nine years old when her father died on 9/11, stated that the strongest protest would be silence. "I don’t really want any politicians there, [unless they’re] there in a civilian capacity. But with politicians, it’s always a photo-op. The day is stressful enough," she said.
The petition organizer, Giovanni Galante, whose wife was killed on 9/11, anticipates attendees will turn their backs on Mamdani rather than engage in confrontation. "No one’s going to be there saying, ‘You can’t come in.’ No one’s going to be arguing with him. I know he likes to come in your face and try to say hello and shake your hand, but I would definitely ignore him," Galante stated.
Galante and New York City Council member Joann Ariola are organizing a press conference at City Hall on September 8 to hand-deliver the petition. Ariola criticized Mamdani's recent executive orders designating September 11 as a day of remembrance and creating a "Never Forget" task force as insufficient, pointing to his continued employment of Ramzi Kassem as chief counsel and his refusal to denounce certain individuals and groups.
City Hall, in response, referred to a July statement from Mamdani: "I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home.”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 2,977 people.