Overview
- Zohran Mamdani said he will attend the 25th‑anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero despite rallies and a Change.org petition started by 9/11 family members that has topped 100,000 signatures.
- His critics point to past ties to streamer Hasan Piker and to the presence and appointment of chief counsel Ramzi Kassem as reasons the mayor should skip the memorial.
- Mamdani’s office released roughly 170,000 pages of city documents that city lawyers say show officials, including Rudy Giuliani, downplayed toxic air risks after the attacks.
- Civil‑rights groups and some elected officials have defended Mamdani’s right to attend and warned that calls for exclusion often draw on religious bias, while conservative figures and some relatives say his presence would distract from victims.
- The dispute has spread into the 2026 campaign season, with outside groups using the same associations to target other Democrats and with the records release refocusing public attention on long‑running health and accountability claims for responders and residents.