New Actor: Port Authority retired police urge Mamdani to skip 9/11 commemoration

The Port Authority Retired Police Association asked Mayor Zohran Mamdani in an Aug. 14 letter not to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center. They said his presence would cause deep pain to many first responders, survivors and families and risk turning a day of remembrance into controversy. The association cited the agency’s losses on Sept. 11, including 37 police officers and 47 other Port Authority employees killed.

The group urged him to mark the day another way, such as a written message, separate remarks or a different event. If he stayed away, he would be the first mayor since the attacks to skip the memorial. Mamdani has said he plans to attend and honor victims, survivors and first responders.

The letter followed a petition to bar him from the ceremony that has drawn more than 95,000 signatures. Launched by Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Catherine Galante was killed in the attacks, it cites his refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” and associations such as an appearance with Imam Siraj Wahhaj and the appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city’s chief counsel. Judea Pearl has publicly backed the effort.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources