Staff Reports
Relatives of 9/11 victims delivered a clear message this week: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is not welcome at the Ground Zero ceremony for the 25th anniversary. The petition led by widower Giovanni Galante and amplified by Jeannette Puccio‑Pick — whose father Joseph Pick died in the South Tower — says Mamdani’s associations and appointments make his presence inappropriate. Families who lost loved ones want the day to be about remembrance, not political theater, and they are making that demand loudly and plainly.
Families Demand Respect, Not Politics
“We don’t want you there,” Puccio‑Pick told reporters, and she’s hardly alone. The Change.org petition and delivery of signatures to City Hall underline a broader complaint: too many politicians turn solemn anniversaries into photo ops. Petitioners argue that the Ground Zero commemoration should be reserved for victims, families, and first responders — not for civic grandstanding. Count the signatures if you must, but you don’t need a tally to see the hurt and anger of people who have lived with this loss every day since that morning.
Why Families Object
Appointments, Praise, and Painful Associations
The objections are not pulled from thin air. Families point to Mayor Mamdani’s past campaign praise for controversial community figures, his appointment of Chief Counsel Ramzi Kassem, and even writings by Mamdani’s father that some critics find troubling. Petitioners say those ties and statements feel like a slap to people who lost family members to Islamist terror. Whether you agree or not with each piece of the argument, the core point is simple: survivors want the ceremony to convey an unambiguous condemnation of the attacks and respect for the dead.
Mayor Mamdani Insists He Will Attend
City Hall says Mayor Mamdani will attend to “bring New Yorkers together” and avoid division. Fine — but when invited families ask you to stay away, insisting on showing up looks less like unity and more like choosing optics over empathy. If the mayor truly wants to honor victims and first responders, a little humility would go a long way. The right move would have been to listen to the families and let the 25th anniversary be theirs, not a chance for political theater.
In the end, Ground Zero belongs to the families who keep going back every year. They are the ones who live with this grief, and their wishes should carry weight. If Mayor Mamdani insists on attending despite their plea, it will be remembered — and not kindly. For now, the clearest lesson is old and simple: when people who suffered ask for respect on a solemn day, public officials should learn to sit quietly and listen.
