Over 98,000 people signed a petition demanding Zohran Mamdani stay away from the 25th anniversary Ground Zero ceremony.
Families of the 2,977 people killed on September 11, 2001, made clear they did not want New York City’s mayor anywhere near the memorial. Supporters of the petition delivered it to City Hall on September 8. Mamdani said he planned to attend and pay his respects, but that did little to ease the anger of those who lost loved ones that day.
Maureen Santora, 81, was among the most direct. Her son Christopher, a 23-year-old firefighter with Engine 54, died in the South Tower. “I just hope that he doesn’t say a single word,” Santora said, “because most of us will be very upset.”
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As originally reported, Angie Pesce, whose brother Danny died in the North Tower, took a quieter stance but still voiced her feelings. She told reporters that Mamdani would probably show up to be spiteful. Giovanni Galante, who organized the petition after losing his wife Grace in the attacks, put it simply. “I would definitely ignore him,” he said. Jeanette Puccio-Pick, whose father died on the 94th floor of the South Tower, said her attention on that day would remain focused on her father, not on the mayor.
The opposition extended beyond the question of attendance. On September 8, 2026, Galante and Queens GOP Councilwoman Joann Ariola held a joint press conference. Ariola dismissed Mamdani’s executive orders on remembrance as meaningless, pointing to his retention of chief counsel Ramzi Kassem and his refusal to disavow figures like Hasan Piker.
Retired Port Authority police also pushed back. Association president John McDevitt sent letters in August urging Mamdani to simply stay home on the anniversary. Of the 2,977 killed that day, 658 were employees of Cantor Fitzgerald alone.
Not every family member shared that view. Elizabeth Miller, who lost her father in the attacks, said Mamdani had every right to attend. She described the criticism directed at him as Islamophobic.
Mamdani did attend the ceremony. The reaction on social media platform X was swift and harsh. One user, responding to a video clip posted by Mamdani, wrote, “Hey, nice live shot of you laughing at the 9/11 memorial 2 minutes ago. You slimy piece of sh*t.” Another posted, “You are nothing but a Jihadi.”
The divide over Mamdani’s presence at Ground Zero reflects a broader tension between elected leadership and the families who have spent 25 years guarding the memory of those they lost. For many of them, who stands at that ceremony still matters deeply.
