{"id":702,"date":"2026-09-08T11:40:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:40:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:40:55","slug":"pataki-says-mamdani-should-skip-9-11-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"Pataki says Mamdani should skip 9\/11 memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Republican former Gov. George Pataki exclusively told City & State on Thursday that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should skip the upcoming 9\/11 memorial commemorating its 25th anniversary \u2013 an extraordinary demand from the man who was governor at the time of the 2001 attack.<\/p>\n

Read more Commentary: The political arrival of Muslim New York<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWith respect to the mayor, I think anyone who doesn\u2019t intentionally distance themselves from Hasan Piker, who has said that America deserved the attacks of September 11th, should not be there,\u201d Pataki told City & State, referencing the left-wing influencer and frequent Mamdani booster. \u201cAnyone who has refused to reject the phrase \u2018globalize the intifada,\u2019 which unequivocally calls for violence against Jews, not just in Israel but anywhere in the world, should not be at that site.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a mayoral debate last year, Mamdani condemned Piker\u2019s comments about 9\/11, which the streamer has also disavowed, but he continues to associate with Piker.<\/p>\n

Pataki said he typically believes in \u201cinclusion,\u201d even of people who he doesn\u2019t agree with. But he said the 9\/11 memorial is different as it isn\u2019t a government or political event. \u201cI think (the mayor) has two choices: reject those extremist views against America and calling for violence against Jews, or voluntarily decide it’s not in the families\u2019 and the victims\u2019 interest for him to be there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A growing number of family members of 9\/11 victims have said they don’t want Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, to attend the memorial service this year. A petition to that effect has attracted signatures from 98,000 people \u2013 though only a small percentage of the petition signers appear to be related to 9\/11 victims. Many of them, like Pataki, have pointed to Mamdani\u2019s association with Piker. The petition cites a number of other reasons as well, including Mamdani\u2019s father\u2019s academic work on suicide bombers and the mayor\u2019s endorsement of candidates like state Senate Democratic nominee Aber Kawas and congressional Democratic nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier.<\/p>\n

Conservatives have amplified these demands, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said attendees should turn their backs on Mamdani at the memorial should the mayor attend, which Mamdani is expected to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more The 2026 Manhattan Power 100<\/a><\/p>\n

Mamdani has said he still plans to attend the memorial on Sept. 11. \u201cI 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, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Pataki previously hinted at the idea he might add his voice to those demanding Mamdani\u2019s absence. He told reporters at an August event in Albany that he had \u201cgrave concerns\u201d about the mayor\u2019s comments, before saying he \u201cmay have comments\u201d at a later date about the mayor\u2019s attendance at the 9\/11 memorial at a later date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No New York City mayor has skipped the 9\/11 memorial event, so the demand that Mamdani do so is unprecedented. City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has frequently criticized the Mamdani administration, called the campaign to keep the mayor from the memorial \u201cabsolutely inappropriate.\u201d Menin, who previously chaired the Manhattan community board overseeing the World Trade Center site, noted that politicians explicitly aren\u2019t permitted to give speeches at the event in order to keep the attention on the victims and their families, and said the push to keep Mamdani away from the memorial is itself politicizing the event.<\/p>\n

Even if Mamdani attends the memorial, there will still be one extraordinary absence. President Donald Trump does not plan to attend the New York City memorial, reportedly because he was not allowed to give a speech. He will be the only living president who won\u2019t be at the event in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Read more Never forget: Betrayals of 9\/11 first responders have lingered for 25 years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former governor said the mayor\u2019s presence would not be respectful given his rhetoric and the people he associates with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city"],"yoast_head":"\nPataki says Mamdani should skip 9\/11 memorial - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pataki says Mamdani should skip 9\/11 memorial - Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The former governor said the mayor\u2019s presence would not be respectful given his rhetoric and the people he associates with.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-08T11:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0\"},\"headline\":\"Pataki says Mamdani should skip 9\\\/11 memorial\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-08T11:40:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/e9d1a2a581d1f55d1f944c70c9604ea0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"New York City\"],\"articleSection\":[\"New York City\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=702\",\"name\":\"Pataki says Mamdani should skip 9\\\/11 memorial - 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