Two former New York leaders who guided the city through the September 11 attacks are publicly calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to skip this week's 25th-anniversary memorial, a demand backed by nearly 100,000 petition signatures and growing bipartisan tension.
Rudy Giuliani, the 82-year-old former mayor who led New York City in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks that killed more than 2,700 people, told Newsmax on Sunday that Mamdani's planned appearance at the ceremony "offends" him. Former Governor George Pataki, who held office on the day of the attacks, made a similar appeal days earlier, telling City and State that anyone who refuses to reject calls for violence against Jews "should not be at that site."
Their objections center on Mamdani's continued association with figures who have blamed America for the attacks or endorsed anti-Jewish slogans, and on what both men describe as the mayor's failure to clearly repudiate those positions. Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, pushed back Monday, insisting Mamdani "absolutely should be there" as the city's mayor.
Giuliani framed his objection around the families of the victims. He told Newsmax that the ceremony exists for a specific purpose, and that Mamdani undermines it.
"The reality is this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically. Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he's coming."
Several 9/11 victims' families have already voiced demands that Mamdani not attend. An online petition calling for the mayor to skip the memorial has drawn nearly 100,000 signatures. The pushback from families has mounted steadily in recent weeks as the anniversary approached.
Giuliani went further during the interview, claiming Mamdani "doesn't agree that September 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America." The extraction notes that no statement from Mamdani on that specific characterization appears in the source, and the New York Post described Giuliani's claim as unsubstantiated.
The former mayor also drew a comparison between Mamdani and Osama bin Laden, saying the terror mastermind "was open about his hatred of the US" while Mamdani "is trying to hide it." Giuliani added a broader claim about what he called Islamic influence in the West.
"Too many Americans fall for that Islamic propaganda, which is the reason they're taking over certain parts of America and certain parts of Europe."
Pataki's criticism, delivered in an interview with City and State on Thursday, was more narrowly targeted. The former governor focused on two specific points: Mamdani's association with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, a far-left influencer who once said "America deserved 9/11," and Mamdani's refusal to reject the phrase "globalize the intifada."
"With respect to the mayor, I think anyone who doesn't intentionally distance themselves from [Hasan Piker], who has said that America deserved the attacks of September 11th, should not be there."
Piker has since rejected his own remark. But Mamdani nonetheless continued to associate with him, a fact that Pataki treated as disqualifying. The former governor laid out a binary choice for the mayor:
"I think [Mamdani] has two choices: reject those extremist views against America and calling for violence against Jews, or voluntarily decide it's not in the families' and the victims' interest for him to be there."
Pataki also addressed the "globalize the intifada" slogan directly, calling it a phrase that "unequivocally calls for violence against Jews, not just in Israel but anywhere in the world." Mamdani's refusal to disavow it has been a recurring flashpoint. The mayor has faced growing criticism over rhetoric that opponents say has contributed to a hostile climate in the city.
Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, joined Pataki's call on similar grounds, though no direct quote from Blakeman appeared in the reporting.
Governor Hochul took the opposite position. Speaking to reporters Monday at Brooklyn's West Indian Day parade, she said Mamdani's absence would be a greater insult than his presence.
"He absolutely should be there. He is the mayor of New York City and I have utmost respect for the small number of families that have expressed that, but I think it would be more insulting to the vast majority if he did not come."
Hochul characterized the opposition as a Republican campaign tactic, calling the memorial "a communal event" that "should not be a decisive one the way the Republicans are trying to make it be." She urged unity around law enforcement, first responders, and the families who lost loved ones.
"It's important that he show that we are reunited in our opposition to terrorism. We stand out with our law enforcement, our first responders and the families that have lost loved ones."
Hochul's framing, that only a "small number" of families object, sits in tension with the nearly 100,000 petition signatures and the vocal opposition from multiple former officeholders. The exact breakdown of family sentiment remains unclear; no precise count of supporters or opponents has been published.
Mamdani's office issued a statement in July affirming his plans. The mayor, a practicing Muslim, gave no indication he would change course.
"I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year's 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home."
The statement struck a tone of inclusion and resolve. What it did not do was address the specific objections raised by Giuliani, Pataki, and the families, the associations with Piker, the refusal to reject the intifada slogan, or the broader question of whether Mamdani's record on these issues disqualifies him from standing at a site where 2,700 Americans were murdered by Islamic terrorists.
That pattern, issuing broad statements of solidarity while declining to address pointed criticism, has defined much of Mamdani's tenure. He has faced repeated backlash over his associations and public conduct, including controversies that have raised questions about his judgment and priorities.
Earlier this year, the mayor drew criticism for publicly mourning an accused killer's death while the victim's family said he had never acknowledged their loss. The episode reinforced a perception among critics that Mamdani's sympathies run in one direction.
The fight over Mamdani's attendance exposes a fault line that runs deeper than any single ceremony. Giuliani and Pataki are not asking whether a mayor has the right to attend a public memorial. They are asking whether this mayor, given his specific associations and specific refusals, has earned the moral standing to represent the city at a site consecrated by mass murder.
Hochul's counterargument, that the office itself confers that standing, is the standard institutional defense. But institutions earn trust through conduct, and Mamdani's conduct is precisely what his critics are challenging. His pattern of evasion on hard questions about extremism and accountability has given his opponents a long list of specifics to cite.
Pataki's formulation remains the clearest test: reject the extremist views, or stay home. Mamdani has done neither. He has issued warm words about honoring the fallen while maintaining the associations that prompted the objections in the first place.
The families who lost husbands, wives, sons, and daughters on September 11, 2001, did not ask for a political fight over who stands at the memorial. They asked for clarity about where their mayor stands, and twenty-five years later, they are still waiting for a straight answer.
