Families of victims killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have launched a petition calling for Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be excluded from this year's 25th anniversary commemorations at Ground Zero.
The Change.org petition, organized by Giovanni Galante — whose wife, Grace Catherine Galante, was among the 2,977 people murdered that day — and co-organizer Cheri Sparacio, argues that the mayor's public record and associations make his presence incompatible with the solemn purpose of the ceremony.
As of July 29, the petition had gathered more than 40,000 signatures, per KFI News. Organizers have told reporters that at least 300 of those signers are victims' family members, but that figure is an estimate, not a verified count. In an interview with Popular Information, Galante acknowledged “we don't have a list” of family-member signers, saying the 300 figure was based on his sense of how the petition spread through people he personally knows who lost relatives on 9/11. Change.org's “verified signature” label confirms only that signers are real people — not that they are related to a 9/11 victim.
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Galante and Sparacio cite several concerns: Mamdani's reluctance to clearly and unequivocally condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” his associations with individuals whose records or statements they view as dismissive of the attacks or insufficiently critical of extremist ideologies, and specific appointments and endorsements they find troubling. Among the points raised is the hiring of Ramzi Kassem — who served as lead defense counsel for Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative convicted in the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg — as the city's chief counsel, per The New York Sun.
“The 25th anniversary should remain centred on remembrance, unity, and an unambiguous rejection of the violence and extremism that defined that day,” the petition states. Organizers describe Mamdani's potential attendance as making him an “unwelcome guest” at a deeply personal ceremony for the families most directly affected.
Mamdani has rejected the call to stay away. “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,” he said.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which organizes the annual ceremony, has intentionally kept the event free of politics. Spokesperson Julie Wood said government officials “from across the political spectrum, including every sitting president, governor, and mayor since 9/11” have attended simply to bear witness, without delivering remarks, according to The Globe.
Not all 9/11 families support the ban. Staten Island 9/11 survivor-group organizer Dennis McKeon noted that mayors and governors “for the past 25 years... really did nothing to help the 9/11 family members,” yet were never excluded, adding that “everyone's entitled to their own opinion,” per CBS News New York. Monica Iken-Murphy, who lost her husband, Michael, in the South Tower, drew a narrower distinction: she wants the ceremony reserved for officials who were “involved in the healing process from the start” — naming former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, former Senator Hillary Clinton, and City Council Speaker Julie Menin as acceptable attendees, while suggesting others “come a different day.”
Galante and Sparacio say they plan to deliver the petition to the mayor's office before September 11. With the 25th anniversary approaching, the debate over who belongs at Ground Zero — and how many family members actually back the effort to keep him away — remains unresolved.
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