Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, shook hands with current Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Earlier, Republican Giuliani called for democratic socialist Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York, not to be allowed to attend the ceremony.
The politicians exchanged a short conversation. What exactly they were talking about is unknown.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was seen shaking hands with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city during the 9/11 attacks, at the 25th anniversary remembrance ceremony. pic.twitter.com/3T1CGyEErq
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 11, 2026
In an interview with Newsmax last week, Giuliani said he was offended by Mamdani's decision to attend the ceremony. According to the Republican, the current mayor “does not agree that 9/11 was an Islamist terrorist attack” on the United States.
Note that Mamdani recently declared September 11 a citywide Day of Remembrance and Service, and his administration has published tens of thousands of documents covering the events following the attack.
Some relatives of 9/11 victims have launched a petition demanding that Mamdani not be allowed to attend the event. More than 100 thousand people signed it. At the Ground Zero memorial, the RTVI film crew spoke with one of these activists, Monica, who lost her fiancé on the day of the terrorist attack. She compared Mamdani's presence to the situation as if his killer was brought to a person's funeral.
“I'm not saying he's a killer. It's just a very accurate comparison. Why can't we do right by the people to whom this day means so much? – she said. – To him [Мамдани] was 10 years old and had not been in the country at all on 9/11. Why would he even be here?”
Calls to not allow Mamdani to attend the ceremony are also related to his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city's chief lawyer. Previously, Kassem defended Ahmed al-Darbi, who pleaded guilty to preparing a terrorist attack against a French tanker on behalf of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Al-Darbi was also the brother of the wife of one of the hijackers of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
After signing his 9/11 orders, Mamdani, through New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, gave the pen to Kassem.
“I'm not going to politely ask the mayor not to come to the 9/11 ceremony. I demand that he not even appear on this sacred ground. He doesn’t belong here,” one of the relatives of the victims said at the memorial ceremony.
Critics also recall a photo of Mamdani with blogger Hassan Piker, known for his controversial statements about the September 11 attacks. RTVI talked about which other Republicans opposed the mayor’s presence at the ceremony. However, not all relatives of the victims criticized Mamdani and his decision.
“Ground Zero is still a burial site. This is not a place for any political speech. This is a right that the victims' family members have defended. And I think that's what all Americans should do. Indeed, I hope that everyone who comes to Ground Zero this year will treat this place as a shrine where they come to honor memory and reflect,” Terri Rockefeller, who lost her younger sister in the attack, said in an interview with RTVI.
To see how the commemorative events took place for the 25th anniversary of the largest tragedy in US history, watch the RTVI special broadcast.
