9/11 Families Split as Mamdani Joins Memorial

On NBC's "Meet the Press," then-candidate Mamdani repeatedly sidesteps requests to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," saying it is not "language I use" but that a mayor's job is not "to police speech." The petition later cites that answer.

Mamdani meets Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj and is criticized by Republicans. Wahhaj, who denies terrorism links, once appeared on a court-ordered list of "unindicted persons who may be alleged as coconspirators" in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; the case's lead prosecutor, Andrew C. McCarthy, wrote in October 2025 that prosecutors never alleged Wahhaj was a co-conspirator and called such lists "overly inclusive."

The New York Post reports that 9/11 families are circulating a petition to bar Mamdani from the 25th-anniversary commemoration.

The Port Authority Retired Police Association writes to Mamdani telling him he is not welcome. "Your presence at Ground Zero on 9/11 would cause profound pain to members of the 9/11 community and risk turning a solemn day of remembrance into a political controversy," association President John McDevitt wrote, citing what the group called rhetoric and affiliations hostile to law enforcement.

Mamdani tells WCBS he will be at the memorial Friday "just as I was last year," and that his focus is on the families and the first responders.

Relatives of victims hand-deliver the petition at City Hall. Councilmember Joann Ariola posts photos of the group.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch unveils a memorial wall at One Police Plaza bearing 469 names of officers who died of Ground Zero-related illnesses. Seated beside Mamdani, she says: "The men who attacked this city were terrorists. The men and women who ran into the towers to save innocent lives were heroes. Twenty-five years cannot be allowed to blur that distinction and shame on those who do." Some attendees told the New York Post they took it as a dig at the mayor.

Rep. Mike Lawler publicly urges Mamdani to skip the memorial, citing his associations and rhetoric, Fox News reports. That evening, more than 100 people join the Children of Abraham Peace Walk, which began a year after the attacks; the group starts at Hebrew Union College, stops at Judson Church and ends at the Islamic Center of New York City, where Mamdani speaks.