New York Gov. Kathy Hochul dipped out of the reading of the names of 9/11 victims early at Ground Zero Friday morning so she could appear on CNN.
Hochul left the solemn ceremony at the reflecting pool just before 11 a.m. Friday as the list of names of victims killed on Sept. 11, 2001 were being read so she could sing her own praises with Wolf Blitzer on CNN.
Hochul left the solemn ceremony at the reflecting pool just before 11 a.m. Friday as the list of names of victims killed on Sept. 11, 2001 were being read — so she could sing her own praises on CNN. Getty Images
Heidi Peters embraces her daughter Hazel Reeves, 7, as they pay respects to Heidi’s grandfather Louis Neil Mariani on Friday at the National September 11 Memorial reflecting pool. Jeenah Moon/Pool Reuters via AP
The crowd at Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 Friday. PAUL MARTINKA cell 718.810.5
A person pauses at the 9/11 memorial ahead of Friday’s ceremony. Getty Images
“I want to thank all the dignitaries that are here and families that stayed until the end, because everyone one of these names matter,” said the individual who read the final names at the annual memorial ceremony.
But Hochul had already long wrapped her interview with Blitzer by then, where she spoke about the 25th anniversary ceremony and the city’s recent release of thousands of pages of documents related to the air quality in Lower Manhattan after 9/11.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani (right) at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum plaza in lower Manhattan on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.
The Democrat, who is seeking a second, full four-year term in November, then pivoted to discussing her own initiatives like increasing police patrols around Jewish institutions ahead of High Holidays.
Hochul Press Secretary Kara Cumoletti defended the governor’s decision to leave the ceremony early, pointing fingers at Vice President J.D. Vance, who she claimed left at the same time.
“The governor departed the ceremony at the same time she does every year, alongside former presidents and Vice President Vance,” Hochul’s spokesperson wrote.
“She then went on national television to commemorate the 25th anniversary of September 11th, the victims, and their enduring impact on New York. Trying to manufacture a controversy out of that is both false and beneath the solemnity of the day,” she said.