New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing renewed backlash over how he handled the 1993 World Trade Center bombing memorial, even as he says he plans to attend the 25th-anniversary 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero. Families of the 1993 victims say his decision to skip that February tribute sent the wrong message, especially given the weight those anniversaries carry for New Yorkers.
Rather than appear at the Feb. 26 memorial at Ground Zero, Mamdani went to Washington, D.C., where he met privately with President Donald Trump. His purpose was to push for federal support for a housing plan in Queens that would include 12,000 affordable units and seek more than $21 billion in federal funding. He later described that meeting as productive. The White House has not commented on the encounter.
Some relatives of those killed in the 1993 attack have not forgiven him for missing the ceremony. Andrew Colabella, whose cousin John DiGiovanni died in the bombing, said Mamdani “blew us off” and argued that the mayor cared more about his own ambitions than the memorial itself. Colabella, a Republican legislator from Westport, Conn., also said Mamdani appeared at Ground Zero in April to greet King Charles III because cameras were present. He said more than 79,000 people have signed a petition urging Mamdani to stay away from the Sept. 11 observance.
Edward Smith, whose wife Monica Rodriguez Smith was killed in the 1993 bombing while she was seven months pregnant, said Mamdani did him and other families a favor by not showing up in February. Smith, who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., said he plans to attend the 9/11 ceremony but is not signing the petition himself. Instead, he said, people opposed to the mayor’s presence should boo him or turn their backs on him if he attends.
