New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemingly threw his staff under the bus over a dispute with the NYPD — and his wife, Rama Duwaji, is at the center of it.
The first lady, 29, plans to depart on a trip to Syria and Lebanon on September 20 and since both countries sit on the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list, City Hall spokesperson Dora Pekec had indicated an NYPD security detail had been arranged.
“Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady’s security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon,” Pekec said, per a New York Post report published on Tuesday, August 11
But the NYPD pushed back hard on that characterization. “The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” a department spokesperson said, according to the outlet.
The department added, “This is not an investigative trip, and therefore, NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.”
Per the New York Post, a source with knowledge of the trip said, “It’s not official business. It’s not doing anything for the city.” Another source familiar with the arrangement said Duwaji asked for NYPD protection herself after a prior international trip last month went forward without a police detail.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, 78, weighed in as well, calling the idea of sending officers “ill-advised” and warning it “definitely” would put personnel at risk, according to the article. He noted the assignment would be “expensive” and said, “There would be lots of hoops you’d have to go through for that kind of assignment,” as reported by the outlet.
However, later on Tuesday, Mamdani contradicted Pekec’s statement.
“There was a miscommunication,” he insisted to PIX11, per Page Six. “She has not yet taken that trip and when she takes that trip it will be without any NYPD detail.”
The trip lands during the 81st United Nations General Assembly, a period when NYPD resources are already stretched thin — a strain the outlet noted has intensified since Mamdani encouraged New Yorkers to demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mamdani, 34, and Duwaji married in a civil ceremony at New York City Hall in February 2025, later celebrating their union with a ceremony in Uganda.
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