Relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks say they plan to ignore New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani if he attends this year’s 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero, choosing to turn away rather than confront the mayor during the solemn commemoration.
More than 98,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging Mamdani not to attend the ceremony. Organizers are planning to personally deliver the petition to City Hall on Sept. 8 during a news conference on the steps of the building led by petition organizer Giovanni Galante and Republican Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola.
Galante lost his wife, Grace, 29, in the Sept. 11 attacks. He said the families have no intention of physically preventing Mamdani from attending or engaging him in an argument.
“No one’s going to be there saying, ‘You can’t come in,'” Galante said. “I know he likes to come in your face and try to say hello and shake your hand, but I would definitely ignore him.”
Those supporting the petition have cited previous statements by Mamdani as well as individuals with whom he has associated as reasons they do not want him present. The annual ceremony commemorates the 2,977 people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Angie Pesce, whose brother Danny was among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the North Tower, said she expects Mamdani to attend regardless of the objections from victims’ relatives.
“He’ll show up to be spiteful,” she told the newspaper.
Maureen Santora, 81, also said she believes Mamdani will appear at the ceremony despite the opposition. Her son Christopher, a 23-year-old firefighter assigned to Engine 54, was killed in the South Tower.
“I just hope that he doesn’t say a single word because most of us will be very upset,” she said.
Jeanette Puccio-Pick was only 9 years old when her father, Joseph Pick, a vice president at Fiduciary Trust International, was killed on the 94th floor of the South Tower. Now 34, she said she intends to focus on remembering her father rather than engaging with the mayor.
“If the mayor shows up, that’s his prerogative. I’m there to honor my father,” she said. “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 controversy comes as Mamdani on Friday signed executive orders concerning the anniversary, including one designating Sept. 11 as a day of remembrance and service and another aimed at strengthening the city’s emergency preparedness. Ariola argued that those actions did not address her broader concerns, pointing to Mamdani’s retention of chief counsel Ramzi Kassem and his positions regarding commentator Hasan Piker and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
City Hall, responding to questions about the controversy, referred to a statement Mamdani issued in July indicating that he intends to participate in the commemoration.
Mamdani said he would “proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them.”
{Matzav.com}
