At the center of the campaign is Giovanni Galante.
Galante lost his wife, Grace Catherine Galante, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
She was only 29 years old and worked on the 105th floor of the North Tower.
For Galante, the dispute isn’t simply about partisan politics. He and other petition supporters say Mamdani’s political record and associations make his presence inappropriate at a ceremony intended to honor the dead and comfort their families.
“We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,” Galante told CBS News New York.
The petition points to Mamdani’s public positions, political associations and reaction to rhetoric that organizers believe conflicts with the meaning of the annual memorial.
And the campaign has rapidly gained attention.
CBS News reported that the petition had collected more than 23,000 signatures by August 18. The New York Post subsequently reported on September 5 that the total had climbed beyond 98,000.
There is an important distinction surrounding those numbers.
The petition’s overall signature count should not be confused with the number of 9/11 family members supporting it.
CBS News corrected an earlier report that had suggested thousands of relatives of victims had signed. Galante estimated that hundreds of family members were involved, but organizers have not provided a verified breakdown establishing exactly how many signatories lost relatives in the attacks.
Still, several relatives have publicly stepped forward.
Monica Iken Murphy, whose husband Michael died while working on the 84th floor of the South Tower, told CBS that the anniversary should remain centered on the people directly touched by the tragedy.
Not everyone within the broader 9/11 community believes barring Mamdani is the right response.
Dennis McKeon, who heads a Staten Island organization serving 9/11 survivors, defended the families’ right to object while pointing out that political leaders have faced anger from victims’ relatives before without being prohibited from attending.
Mamdani, meanwhile, isn’t backing down.
The mayor has publicly declared that he plans to be at Ground Zero.
“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,” Mamdani told CBS News New York.
He has framed his planned appearance as part of New York City’s continuing obligation to remember the victims and everyone whose life was permanently changed that morning.
That puts the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in a difficult position.
The organization responsible for the Ground Zero commemoration has long sought to prevent the ceremony from becoming another arena for partisan political warfare.
Elected officials from both parties have traditionally been allowed to attend. They are treated as witnesses to the ceremony rather than its centerpiece, are seated in a designated location and do not deliver political speeches.
“We have intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics,” the organization told CBS.
The ceremony instead belongs to the victims and their loved ones.
On September 11, family members will once again gather at the Memorial plaza and read the names of the 2,983 people killed in the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The observance will include seven moments of silence tied to key moments from that devastating day, including the strikes on the Twin Towers, their collapses, the Pentagon attack and the crash of Flight 93.
This year’s expanded commemoration will also recognize those who subsequently died from illnesses and injuries connected to September 11.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
At 8:46 a.m., attendees will observe the first moment of silence, marking the instant American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower.
Initial access to the Memorial plaza will be reserved for victims’ families.
Mamdani has also taken steps in the run-up to the anniversary to demonstrate that City Hall is formally recognizing the occasion.
On September 4, he signed an executive order establishing September 11 as a citywide Day of Remembrance and Service.
The order calls on New York City to honor those murdered in the attacks, the first responders who rushed toward danger, survivors and those who later died from illnesses linked to their exposure to the disaster.
But the executive order hasn’t ended the controversy.
For the families supporting Galante’s petition, the question isn’t whether New York’s mayor has the legal or traditional ability to attend.
It’s whether he should.
With the 25th anniversary now just days away, Mamdani appears determined to stand at Ground Zero while a growing petition demands that he stay away.
That means a ceremony designed to rise above politics could enter September 11 carrying a political controversy that the organizers — and many families — would rather leave outside the gates.
