Among those objecting was Walter Matuza, whose father was killed inside the North Tower while working for Carr Futures.
Matuza told Fox News that Mamdani’s decision to appear “does bother us.”
His objections centered in part on Mamdani’s political associations and his selection of Ramzi Kassem as chief counsel.
Kassem previously represented a Guantanamo Bay detainee linked to an al-Qaeda plot who was also the brother of one of the September 11 hijackers.
For families still living with the consequences of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, that connection has become a major source of anger.
Another mourner, identified only as Steven, traveled to the ceremony from Hobe Sound, Florida.
He described Mamdani’s appearance as “disrespectful” and “very offensive.”
Steven acknowledged that Mamdani, as New York City’s elected mayor, had every right to attend. But he argued that the mayor’s political relationships and associations made his presence inappropriate.
“I don’t feel that his presence here is wanted,” Steven said.
He was equally unsparing when discussing Kassem’s appointment, calling it “hideous.”
Those weren’t isolated complaints.
Mike, a former New Jersey police officer who responded in Manhattan following the September 11 attacks, suggested Mamdani’s previous rhetoric should have been enough reason for the mayor to sit this ceremony out.
“He probably should have skipped it,” Mike said.
Another attendee went even further, labeling Mamdani a “communist” while stressing that the annual gathering “is not supposed to be a political event.”
That is precisely the argument behind the petition opposing Mamdani’s attendance.
Relatives of September 11 victims, including Giovanni Galante, whose wife was killed in the attacks, helped organize the effort.
The petition ultimately attracted more than 110,000 signatures, reflecting the depth of opposition among those who believe Ground Zero should remain a place of solemn remembrance rather than political controversy.
Organizers pointed not only to Mamdani’s appointments but also to his association with left-wing commentator Hasan Piker.
Piker previously sparked outrage by declaring that the United States “deserved 9/11.”
For critics, connections like those made Mamdani’s participation in the memorial ceremony impossible to separate from politics, regardless of his stated intentions.
The opposition extended beyond victims’ relatives.
Former New York Governor George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani publicly urged Mamdani to stay away.
Giuliani said the mayor’s attendance “offends” him.
Mamdani nevertheless went ahead with his appearance, arguing that his purpose was to recognize the families who lost loved ones and the first responders who rushed toward danger that morning.
He publicly described September 11 as a “horrific act of terror” that took the lives of 2,753 New Yorkers.
“What I want this week to be a focus on is on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them,” Mamdani said.
The mayor remained throughout the lengthy reading of the victims’ names and stayed afterward to speak with families.
There was also an unexpected encounter before the ceremony got underway.
Mamdani approached Giuliani, who led New York City during the September 11 attacks, and the two men shook hands despite Giuliani’s vocal opposition to the mayor’s presence.
Giuliani reportedly told Mamdani that he would pray for him and acknowledged the difficulty of leading America’s largest city.
But the political temperature surrounding Mamdani’s attendance did not disappear.
The sight of Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez appearing to laugh during the ceremony only added fuel to criticism from people who already believed the mayor should never have attended.
The invitation-only commemoration, organized by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, featured the traditional reading of victims’ names and moments of silence marking critical points in the attacks.
Vice President JD Vance and four former presidents were also among those attending.
For the families gathered at Ground Zero, however, the ceremony has never simply been another date on a politician’s calendar.
It is the place where husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings, firefighters, police officers, office workers and countless other innocent Americans were remembered more than two decades after terrorists took their lives.
And for critics like Matuza and Steven, that is exactly why Mamdani’s political baggage mattered.
Whatever the mayor intended by attending, some of the people who came to mourn made their feelings unmistakably clear.
They didn’t want politics intruding on September 11.
And they didn’t want Mamdani there.
