STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Hours after news broke that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani had been hospitalized in Florida with a life-threatening condition, Mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked by a reporter if he wanted to say anything on the matter.
“Absolutely,” replied Mamdani, after wrapping up an unrelated announcement Monday morning in the Bronx. “I’m wishing strength and recovery to former mayor Rudy Giuliani and his loved ones during this difficult time, and I hope that his recovery is steady, and I hope that his family finds peace in one another during this time.”
“I think he is someone that we as New Yorkers know well. And he’s been a fixture in our city’s politics and public life for so many years. And I know that many New Yorkers are concerned by the reports that he’s in critical condition, and so we do keep him and his family in our prayers at this time,” Mamdani continued.
Giuliani, 81 — the 9/11 mayor known for his tough-on-crime policies in the early 2000s, and his staunch support for President Trump in the 2020s — had been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator, the Associated Press reported. As of Monday, he was reportedly breathing on his own.
A spokesperson for Giuliani issued a statement Sunday, saying:
“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he is fighting with that same level of strength now.”