Staff Reports
Mayor Zohran Mamdani went to Ground Zero this week with two shiny executive orders and a message: “Never Forget” should mean action. That message landed about as well as a campaign promise. The city now has a Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service and a new Continuity and Mission Assurance Team (CMAT). At the same time, a growing petition drive by relatives of 9/11 victims is asking that Mamdani be kept away from the official Ground Zero commemoration. So the city has form and show — and a lot of angry families who say the show does not heal old wounds.
Mamdani’s executive orders: words and work
The mayor’s first order declares September 11 a Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service. It calls for a moment of silence, memorial programs, and volunteer work. The second sets up CMAT to keep city services working during emergencies. Mamdani said, “’Never Forget’ is not a slogan. It is a commitment that we must carry forward through action.” Those are decent words. But good intentions and press releases do not automatically fix every family’s pain or erase political questions about a mayor’s past statements and allies.
Families push back; petition and protest planned
Some relatives of 9/11 victims started a petition on Change.org asking memorial organizers to prevent Mamdani from attending. Organizers say they will hand‑deliver the petition to City Hall and that some families plan to turn their backs if the mayor shows up. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has stressed the ceremony should stay nonpolitical, and the mayor says he will attend to honor victims, survivors and first responders. Which all sounds reasonable — except ceremonies are about respect, and respect is not only attendance.
Why families are angry — and why it matters
The anger is about more than one mayoral morning photo op. Critics point to Mamdani’s past association with campaigns that pressured officials on Israel policy and to statements from groups that framed the October 2023 Hamas attack as “not unprovoked.” Those associations, rightly or wrongly, make some families feel that the man standing at Ground Zero is not on the same page as the people who lost loved ones there. People can debate intent. Families do not have to respect gestures from public figures who, in their eyes, have not been honest about what they stand for.
A simple standard: respect over rhetoric
Here is the clear, conservative test: if you want a seat at a solemn memorial, earn it by showing steady respect — not by signing an order the week of an anniversary and hoping the optics will do the work. The city should keep the commemoration separate from politics. Mayor Mamdani can prove his “Never Forget” by listening to families and by making his record on national security and victims’ rights plain and unambiguous. If he won’t, families have every right to withhold respect. That is their moral claim, and the museum should protect the day from turning into a political sideshow.
