NEW YORK — Nearly 45,000 people have signed a petition demanding that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani be kept away from the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks at Ground Zero. Among the loudest voices backing it is an actress who was in the city when the towers fell.
Patricia Heaton, 68 — best known as Debra Barone in “Everybody Loves Raymond” — shared the Change.org petition with her more than 500,000 followers on X on Monday, urging New Yorkers to keep signing. “Keep it going New Yorkers,” she wrote.
Heaton was in Manhattan on 11 September 2001 with the cast of her television show. “I happened to be in New York City on September 11, 2001 with the cast of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond.’ It was a terrifying experience,” she wrote on X in 2024, alongside a video marking that year’s remembrance. Her backing of the petition is not abstract — she witnessed the attacks firsthand.
The Man Behind the Petition
The campaign was launched last Saturday by Giovanni Galante, 55, who lost his wife Grace when the towers came down. He organised the petition specifically to pressure the National September 11 Memorial and Museum — which runs the annual Ground Zero ceremony — to reconsider Mamdani’s inclusion in this year’s events.
Galante and his co-signatories describe Mamdani as an “unwelcome guest” whose presence at the solemn ceremony would constitute an insult to the memories of nearly 3,000 people murdered that day. More than 300 family members of victims have added their names alongside the broader public signatories, according to figures published this week.
The petition is explicit about its objections. It describes the 25th anniversary as “a solemn occasion one that members of this unfortunate group, along with millions of others, continue to honour, remember, and use to say: never again.” It asks that the ceremony remain centred on that principle — and argues Mamdani’s record disqualifies him from standing at the site.
The Case Against the Mayor
The petition lists a series of specific grievances against New York City’s first Muslim mayor — a Uganda-born socialist Democrat who took office earlier this year.
At the top of the list is Mamdani’s perceived reluctance to unequivocally condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” — a slogan that has featured prominently at pro-Palestinian demonstrations across New York and that critics characterise as a call for the export of political violence.
Petitioners also cite his relationship with his chief counsel Ramzi Kassem, who previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi — an al-Qaeda operative convicted of involvement in the 2002 tanker bombing off the coast of Yemen. The connection, organisers argue, raises fundamental questions about the mayor’s judgement on matters of Islamist extremism.
The petition further points to Mamdani’s praise for Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj and his relationship with far-left commentator Hasan Piker, who previously stated that “America deserved” the September 11 attacks. Mamdani’s father, academic Mahmood Mamdani, is also cited the petition quotes a book he published shortly after 9/11 in which he argued that suicide bombers should be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than condemned as barbarism.
Most recently, Mamdani drew sharp criticism after posting on X that “Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal” a statement the UJA Federation New York said contributed to “a dangerous climate created when elected leaders relentlessly portray Israel as uniquely evil and illegitimate.”
Heaton’s Broader Case
Heaton’s backing of the petition fits a pattern of outspoken commentary she has maintained for years connecting the September 11 attacks and subsequent Islamist terrorism.
In a two-minute video she shared on the anniversary in 2024, the actress drew a direct line between al-Qaeda and Hamas whose attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 killed approximately 1,200 people in a single day. “It’s 9/11 again and here we are. The same terrorists are back in full force, this time going after Israel, but really they’re going after all of us,” she said.
She added that “anyone who calls for Israel to lay down its arms, you are supporting the same people who took down the Twin Towers.”
A comment left on the petition by a family member who lost their brother in the attacks captured the mood of many signatories. “I am incensed that a terrorist excuser is now Mayor, and outspoken sympathizer for terrorist perpetrators,” the comment read. “He is disqualified from attending the 9/11 remembrance ceremony and ought to be barred.”
The Memorial’s Position
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has said the anniversary ceremony should remain free of politics. Spokesperson Julie Wood said the organisation has “intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9/11 should never be a partisan issue.”
She noted that government officials from across the political spectrum including every sitting president, governor and mayor since the attacks have attended the ceremony to bear witness, without delivering remarks and remaining in a designated area. The same convention, she indicated, would apply to Mamdani.
The Mayor’s Response
Mamdani has not wavered. His spokesperson Jeremy Edwards confirmed the mayor intends to attend. “Mayor Mamdani will proudly honour the families, survivors and first responders forever impacted by these devastating attacks 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,” Edwards said.
The mayor has not addressed the specific allegations in the petition.
Petition organisers say they intend to continue lobbying the City Council and other elected officials in the weeks ahead as the memorial finalises its programme for 11 September 2026. The signature count was approaching 45,000 as of Wednesday evening — and rising.
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Source: New York Post | Editing by M10News News Desk | © 2026 M10News. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited.
