As the 25th anniversary of September 11 approaches, a group of retired Port Authority police officers — who lost 37 colleagues in the attacks — has formally asked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul to absent themselves from the Ground Zero commemoration, arguing that their presence would deepen rather than heal the wounds of that day. The request, rooted in grief and a fierce sense of custodianship over sacred ground, raises a question as old as public mourning itself: who has the right to stand beside the dead, and who decides? Both officials have declined to step aside,
Retired Port Authority officers demand Mamdani, Hochul skip 9/11 Ground Zero ceremony
The 9/11 attacks killed 37 Port Authority police officers and 47 other Port Authority employees, with ongoing impact on victims' families and survivors.
This is our day to remember. Please allow us to remember in peace.
Mark
Why are the retired Port Authority officers making this demand now, just weeks before the ceremony? Is there something specific that triggered it?
Mimi
The letters are dated August 14, so they're giving about a month's notice. But the Hochul decision about the One World Trade Center lighting for Muslim American Heritage Month seems to have been the catalyst—that happened earlier in the summer. Combined with concerns about Mamdani's political positions, it created a moment where they felt they had to act.
Luke
But the letters don't actually specify which statements or associations of Mamdani's they object to. We're told they have "profound concerns" about his public statements and political associations, but the reporting doesn't detail what those are. That's a significant gap.
Mark
So we don't know the actual substance of their objection to him?
Luke
Not from this reporting, no. We know they object; we don't know to what, specifically. That matters for readers trying to understand whether this is a principled stand or something else.
Mimi
The Hochul situation is clearer—they're saying it's inappropriate to use Ground Zero as a venue for Muslim American Heritage Month, even though they say they don't oppose the proclamation itself. It's about the location and what they see as political calculation.
Mark
And Hochul's response is that Muslim New Yorkers were first responders too?
Mimi
Exactly. She's reframing it as inclusive rather than divisive. She's saying you can honor 9/11 victims while also making clear that Islamophobia has no place in New York.
Luke
That's a fair response, but it doesn't actually address the retired officers' specific concern—which is about using the World Trade Center itself as a venue. Those are two different arguments.
Mark
What does the museum say about all this?
Mimi
They've said they keep the ceremony free of politics, that officials don't speak and stay in a designated area. But clearly that framework isn't preventing this dispute from happening.
Luke
Right. The protocols exist, but they can't prevent people from objecting to who's in the room. The museum can control what happens during the ceremony, but not whether people feel the ceremony is being politicized by who attends.
Der Puls
- Retired officers who buried colleagues after the 2001 attacks are now fighting to control who stands at the site of that loss — a measure of how raw the wound remains 25 years on.
- The objections split along two fronts: Mamdani is accused of holding views incompatible with the values of those who died, while Hochul is faulted for illuminating One World Trade Center during Muslim American Heritage Month, a decision the officers called 'insensitive and tone-deaf.'
- A petition launched by a widower of the attacks has surpassed 95,000 signatures, transforming a private letter-writing campaign into a visible public pressure movement weeks before the ceremony.
- Both officials are holding firm — Hochul's office invoked Muslim first responders who served that day, while Mamdani pledged to 'proudly honor' victims — setting up a direct confrontation with the grieving community demanding their absence.
- The National September 11 Memorial & Museum insists its protocols keep the event free of politics, but the escalating dispute suggests that no procedural guardrail can fully separate grief from the political world that surrounds it.
As the 25th anniversary of September 11 approaches, a group of retired Port Authority police officers — who lost 37 colleagues in the attacks — has formally asked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul to absent themselves from the Ground Zero commemoration, arguing that their presence would deepen rather than heal the wounds of that day. The request, rooted in grief and a fierce sense of custodianship over sacred ground, raises a question as old as public mourning itself: who has the right to stand beside the dead, and who decides? Both officials have declined to step aside, and a petition bearing over 95,000 signatures signals that the dispute will not quietly resolve before September 11 arrives.
With the 25th anniversary of September 11 weeks away, a group of retired Port Authority police officers has formally asked two of New York's most powerful officials to stay home from Ground Zero. In letters dated August 14, John McDevitt, president of the Port Authority Retired Police Association, urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul to skip the commemoration, warning that their attendance would cause 'deep pain' to victims' families, survivors, and first responders. The Port Authority lost 37 officers and 47 other employees in the attacks, and for those who served that day, the anniversary belongs to the dead — not to politicians seeking a platform.
The objections to Mamdani center on public statements and political associations the retired officers believe are incompatible with honoring those who died, though the letter does not name them specifically. McDevitt closed his message with a direct appeal: 'This is our day to remember. Please allow us to remember in peace.' The letter to Hochul focused on her decision to illuminate One World Trade Center for Muslim American Heritage Month — not the proclamation itself, the officers said, but the choice of that particular site, which McDevitt called 'insensitive, tone-deaf, and an affront.' He concluded that the decision had cost her the right to stand alongside them at the ceremony.
Neither official has agreed to step aside. Hochul's office said the governor will 'proudly stand alongside' families and noted that Muslim New Yorkers served as first responders after the attacks. Mamdani said he plans to attend and will 'proudly honor' all those affected. Meanwhile, a separate petition launched by Giovanni Galante — whose wife was killed on September 11 — has gathered more than 95,000 signatures calling for Mamdani's exclusion from the event.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum maintains that attending officials are barred from speaking and are kept in a designated area, a framework designed to hold politics at bay. But the widening dispute over who should be permitted to mourn at Ground Zero suggests that no protocol can fully insulate grief from the world outside its gates.
With the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaching, a group of retired Port Authority police officers has taken the unusual step of formally asking two of New York's highest-ranking officials to stay away from the Ground Zero ceremony. In separate letters dated August 14, John McDevitt, president of the Port Authority Retired Police Association, urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul not to attend the September 11 commemoration, arguing that their presence would cause what he called "deep pain" to victims' families, survivors, and first responders.
The Port Authority lost 37 of its own officers in the 2001 attacks, along with 47 other members of the agency's workforce. For the retired officers, the anniversary is not an occasion for political theater or career advancement. McDevitt wrote to Mamdani that September 11 belongs to the dead and those who served them—not to politicians seeking a platform. "Their memorial should not become the center of political controversy," he stated. The association suggested that if Mamdani wished to mark the day, he could do so through a written statement or a separate event, but should not appear at Ground Zero itself.
The objections to Mamdani center on what the retired officers describe as troubling public statements, political associations, and positions they believe contradict the values represented by those who died and those who responded. The letter does not specify which statements or associations prompted the concern, but frames the mayor's attendance as fundamentally incompatible with honoring the sacrifice made that day. McDevitt's message to Mamdani closes with a plea: "This is our day to remember. Please allow us to remember in peace."
The association's letter to Hochul takes a different tack, focusing on her decision to illuminate One World Trade Center in recognition of Muslim American Heritage Month. While the retired officers said they do not oppose the proclamation itself, they objected strenuously to using the World Trade Center and Ground Zero as the venue for the observance. McDevitt called the decision "insensitive, tone-deaf, and an affront" to those who served at the site, to victims' families, and to survivors and first responders. He concluded that because of this choice, Hochul had "forfeited" her right to stand alongside them at the 25th anniversary ceremony.
Both officials have pushed back. Hochul's office responded with a statement saying the governor has "enormous respect" for families who lost loved ones and will "proudly stand alongside them" at this year's commemoration. A spokesperson noted that Muslim New Yorkers served as first responders and helped unite the city after the attacks, and emphasized that the state will not tolerate Islamophobia. Mamdani has similarly said he plans to attend and will "proudly honor" the families, survivors, and first responders affected by the terror attack.
The retired officers' demand arrives as a separate petition seeking to bar Mamdani from the ceremony has gathered more than 95,000 signatures. The petition was started in July by Giovanni Galante, whose wife, Grace Catherine Galante, was killed in the attacks. Galante framed the effort as a measure to "shield our loved ones by barring anyone who opposes our way of life from the ceremony." The petition also drew support from Michael LaRosa, a former spokesman for Jill Biden and a special assistant to former President Joe Biden, who warned that Mamdani's presence would become a "lightning rod" that pulls attention away from victims and their families.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which oversees the annual commemoration, has stated that it maintains the ceremony free of politics. Government officials who attend are not permitted to deliver remarks and are assigned to a designated area during the event. That framework exists precisely to prevent the kind of controversy now unfolding—yet the dispute over who should be allowed to attend suggests that keeping politics out of Ground Zero may prove harder than the museum's protocols assume. As the anniversary approaches, the question of whose presence honors the dead and whose presence wounds them remains unresolved.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
For us, September 11 is not a political occasion, a photo opportunity, or a platform for public officials. It is a solemn day of remembrance.— John McDevitt, president of the Port Authority Retired Police Association, in letter to Mayor Mamdani
We believe that political pandering played a role in a decision that showed such disregard for the significance of this sacred site.— Port Authority Retired Police Association, in letter to Governor Hochul regarding One World Trade Center lighting
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