Zohran Mamdani has found the language of national remembrance.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of September 11, New York City's mayor declared 9/11 a Day of Remembrance and Service. He called the attacks horrific, honored the dead and first responders, and said "Never Forget" requires action.
From the Office of the Mayor of New York:
Today, ahead of the 25th Anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani will sign two Executive Orders to honor the victims, first responders, survivors, City workers and families whose lives were forever changed by the tragedy while strengthening City government’s ability to protect New Yorkers and maintain essential services during emergencies.
“I am honored to establish the City’s first Day of Remembrance and Service on September 11th to remember those we lost on that horrific day and the first responders, families and City workers whose lives were irrevocably changed in the aftermath. Through this Executive Order, we are calling on New Yorkers to honor their memory through service and deep reflection,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “We must also recognize that remembrance carries a responsibility to strengthen our city, protect New Yorkers and ensure that government is prepared to deliver for people no matter the circumstances. 'Never Forget' is not a slogan. It is a commitment that we must carry forward through action. And that is precisely what these two Executive Orders demonstrate.”
The first Executive Order establishes September 11th as an official Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service. It directs the administration to designate time that day for a moment of silence in honor of those who were killed in the attacks and those who suffered health consequences in the years since. City agencies are also encouraged to hold memorial ceremonies, educational programming and other activities to honor those lost, their families and the first responders who answered the call.
The Mayor’s Office will work with NYC Service to promote community service and volunteer opportunities for New Yorkers and encourage City agencies to participate. While similar Days of Remembrance exist at the State and Federal levels, this is the first such action taken by a New York City mayor.
Those words are appropriate, but they also land differently when placed beside the politics that helped carry Mamdani into City Hall.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered about 1,200 people in Israel and took hundreds of people hostage. That same day, the Democratic Socialists of America declared that the violence "was not unprovoked."
Its statement blamed Israeli policy for creating the conditions behind the attack while also condemning the killing of civilians.
The DSA then pointed approvingly to a campaign led by Mamdani, then a New York assemblyman, as a model for pressuring elected officials to cut support for Israel.
Now nearly 100,000 people have signed a petition opposing Mamdani's participation in the Ground Zero commemoration. Some relatives of 9/11 victims say they intend to turn their backs if he attends. Other families support his right to be there.
From the New York Post:
The petition’s organizer, Giovanni Galante, whose 29-year-old wife Grace was killed in the attack, previously said that he expects attendees to turn their back on Mamdani if he comes.
“No one’s going to be there saying, ‘You can’t come in.’ No one’s going to be arguing with him,” he emphasized Thursday.
“I know he likes to come in your face and try to say hello and shake your hand, but I would definitely ignore him.”
In a final action to send the message to Mamdani that he isn’t welcome at the event, Galante and Queens Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola are hosting a press conference on the steps of City Hall on Sept. 8.
They plan to hand deliver the petition to the mayor.
Ariola argued that Mamdani’s personal associations and political moves speak for themselves. She said the executive orders he signed Friday — designating Sept. 11 as a day of remembrance and creating a “Never Forget” task force — as empty gestures.
“This is all too late, and I believe that it’s all just talk and there is no action because he is continuing to have Ramzi Kassem as his chief counsel. He does not denounce Hasan Piker. He will not denounce Globalize the Intifada and BDS — boycott, divestment and sanctions,” she said.
The disagreement itself tells the story. Twenty-five years later, Ground Zero remains more than a political backdrop. Families still guard the memory of people who went to work one September morning and never came home.
Now, let's talk about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has her very own record.
In 2019, while discussing anti-Muslim discrimination after 9/11, Omar described the attacks with four words that have followed her ever since:
"Some people did something."
Her larger point concerned civil liberties and discrimination, and the full context should be included. But context doesn't erase the extraordinary choice of words used to describe an al-Qaeda attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Years later, Omar joined congressional statements describing September 11 in solemn terms and honoring those affected by the attacks. Her criticism of post-9/11 American policy continued alongside that remembrance.
People can decide for themselves whether the shift in language reflects growth, political necessity, or simply the difference between activist rhetoric and an anniversary statement.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed requires more precision.
Hasan Piker, who has campaigned with Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, infamously said, "America deserved 9/11" in 2019.
In August 2019, while livestreaming and reacting to comments by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Piker said:
— James Harris (@RealJamesHarris) August 30, 2026
“America deserved 9/11, dude. Fuck it, I’m saying it.”
He then said that the U.S. had “totally brought it on ourselves” and argued that American foreign policy had contributed to the… https://t.co/C60qc792lw
Piker later said he didn't literally mean Americans deserved to be attacked.
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed has explicitly rejected the statement. "Of course I don't think 9/11 was justified," he said earlier this year. He took it further in August: "America didn't deserve 9/11."
Yet he's resisted demands that he renounce Piker himself, saying he is more concerned with people he is campaigning for than those campaigning with him.
Criticism of America isn't disloyalty by definition. Americans have argued over their country since before independence.
But public figures also leave records.
When September 11 arrives, speeches become solemn; flags appear; and words like "sacrifice," "courage," "service," and "unity" return to the vocabulary.
The other 364 days count, too.
Maybe "Never Forget" should include remembering what politicians and the movements surrounding them say when there isn't a memorial ceremony requiring their best behavior.
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