More than 100,000 people have signed a petition asking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to stay away from Friday's 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero. On Tuesday, relatives of people murdered on 9/11 carried their petition to City Hall.
Their objections weren't difficult to find; they put them in writing.
From the New York Post:
A group of aggrieved 9/11 victims’ relatives gathered at City Hall Tuesday to hand deliver a petition urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to steer clear of ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.
More than a dozen mourners shared their frustration with Mamdani’s confirmed attendance at Friday’s annual ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial during which the names of all 2,983 victims of the attacks will be read aloud.
“It’s not about his religion or where he came from. It’s about the policies he has today,” said Cheri Sparacio, who lost her husband, Tom Sparacio, a currency trader at Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower.
The petition lists Mamdani's public positions and associations, including his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as New York City's chief counsel. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member who pleaded guilty before a military commission to charges related to the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg.
Families also object to Mamdani's association with everyone's favorite communist streamer, Hassan Piker, who is infamous for saying America "deserved 9/11."
Mamdani has since called those remarks "objectionable and reprehensible."
Piker had an answer Tuesday.
He called opposition to Mamdani attending the ceremony a "demented racist viewpoint."
he's the mayor of nyc. this demented racist viewpoint isn't even shared by most 9/11 victim families (many of whom voted for z). at a certain point if mainstream outlets don't call this manufactured racial hysteria out by name, one must assume they welcome it right? https://t.co/5hE4M59X7i
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 8, 2026
There it is.
Racist.
One word, and suddenly nobody has to discuss the substance.
The families behind the petition didn't object to Mamdani merely because he's Muslim. They presented specific complaints about his record, appointments, associations, and response to rhetoric surrounding the attacks that killed their loved ones.
Piker could argue those complaints are unfair, he could defend Mamdani's appointments, and he could explain why the families have misjudged the mayor.
Instead, Piker decided to use his powerful intellect, so he called them racists. That's much easier for him.
Not every 9/11 family agrees with the petition. Some relatives of victims have defended Mamdani's right to attend and believe his presence honors those murdered that morning.
From CBS News:
Some 9/11 families are defending New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's inclusion in this year's solemn remembrance ceremony after an online petition asked he not attend.
"The focus should be on where are we in this world, 25 years later?" Elizabeth Miller said.
Miller's father was killed in the 9/11 terror attacks nearly a quarter-century ago. She's been attending the annual remembrance ceremony in Lower Manhattan since, and is now nearly the age he was when he died.
Year after year, mayors, presidents and politicians on both sides of the aisle have paid their respects at the ceremony.
"Mayor Mamdani has assured 9/11 families that he wants to be there to honor our loved ones, and I think he should be allowed to do that," Miller said.
Miller is speaking out after an online petition garnered more than 72,000 signatures from the public asking ceremony organizers to carefully consider Mamdani's participation this year.
Their voices belong in the discussion too.
But disagreement among families doesn't erase the arguments made by those asking Mamdani to stay home.
Charles Wolf lost his wife, Katherine, in the South Tower. On Tuesday, he asked Mamdani to respect the trauma families experience during the annual ceremony and stay away.
From Fox News:
A coalition of 9/11 family members, first responders, and elected officials gathered on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday to deliver a message to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: stay away from this year's Sept. 11 memorial service.
"This mayor is not serving us," Charles Wolf, who lost his wife on 9/11, said at a noon news conference. "He's serving himself. We are asking respectfully that he not show up."
"Even though there is going to be other politicians there, these are the politicians that helped us push beneficial laws through and literally held our hand during that time," Wolf continued. "Mayor Mamdani has not shown any of that, none of it. He just wants to be there because he wants to be there."
"So we are asking him to respect the fact that that trauma is revived during the ceremony. It is a private ceremony. It is not a public ceremony. Mayor Mamdani, please do not come."
New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino, a staunch, outspoken conservative, said she was leading organizers and family members into City Hall to formally deliver a petition with more than 101,000 signatures directly to the mayor’s office ahead of Friday’s 25th anniversary service.
"I am demanding that he not show his face at that sacred ground," Paladino said. "He does not belong there."
"We the people do not care for Zohran Mamdani – 101,000 names is not a drop in the bucket. Do not, Zohran Mamdani, take us New Yorkers for granted. We were there that day. The sky looked very similar to this. Stay put. Stay in City Hall and promote your propaganda."
Jeannette Pick was 9 when her father, Joseph, also died in the South Tower. Her message was considerably shorter: "Dude, don't come."
There aren't anonymous trolls looking for a fight on social media. They buried husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters because 19 Islamist monsters boarded airplanes one September morning.
Twenty-five years later, they shouldn't need Hasan Piker's permission to decide whom they want standing beside them while their loved ones' names are read.
Mamdani is mayor; he intends to attend, and his office says he wants to honor the victims and first responders. He has every opportunity to directly answer the families' concerns.
From People:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he will attend Friday’s 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero, despite former Mayor Rudy Giuliani publicly calling on him to stay away from the event.
Mamdani, 34, confirmed on Monday, Sept. 7, that he plans to participate in the main ceremony as well as other events marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to The Guardian.
“I’m proud to be the mayor of this city. I love this city. I love this country,” Mamdani said at a breakfast in Brooklyn celebrating New York’s J’ouvert and West Indian Day Parade. “What I want this week to be a focus on is on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago in the horrific act of terror of Sept.11, and a focus also on the first responders who did everything they could.”
Mamdani’s comments came days after Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City when the attacks occurred, criticized his decision to attend the ceremony.
Piker chose another route: he reached for "racist."
When a label replaces an answer, it doesn't defeat the argument. It advertises the unwillingness to make one.
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