notorious anti-American figures<\/a> who have defended terrorists and minimized the worst terrorist attack in US history have made families uncomfortable and outraged with the prospect of his attendance.<\/p>\nPetition organizer Giovanni Galante is seen with his wife Grace Catherine Galante, who was killed in the 9\/11 attacks. Courtesy of Giovanni Galante<\/p>\n
Giovanni Galante started the petition to urge Mamdani to skip the solemn ceremony. Zak Bennett for New York Post<\/p>\n
With the heartbreaking anniversary of the 2,977 murders quickly approaching, relatives of 9\/11 victims told The Post they\u2019ll give Mamdani the cold shoulder if they spot him at the ceremony. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll show up to be spiteful,\u201d said Angie Pesce, whose 34-year-old brother, Danny Pesce, was one of the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the attack on the North Tower.<\/p>\n
Maureen Santora, 81, whose 23-year-old son Christopher, a firefighter with Engine 54, was killed in the South Tower, agreed that Mamdani isn\u2019t welcome. Most of the people she has spoken with expect him to attend anyway, despite calls for him to let families mourn in peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just hope that he doesn\u2019t say a single word because most of us will be very upset,\u201d the Queens mother said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The petition has garnered over 98,000 signatures. change.org<\/p>\n
Al and Maureen Santora hold a photo of their firefighter son Chris Santora, who was killed while responding to the attacks. Gabriella Bass<\/p>\n
Jeanette Puccio-Pick, 34, who was only 9 when her father Joseph Pick, the vice president of Fiduciary Trust International, perished on the 94th Floor of the South Tower, said the strongest act of protest against the mayor is silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the mayor shows up, that\u2019s his prerogative. I\u2019m there to honor my father,\u201d she asserted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really want any politicians there, [unless they\u2019re] there in a civilian capacity. But with politicians, it\u2019s always a photo-op. The day is stressful enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph Pick was killed on 9\/11 while working on the 94th floor of the South Tower. Courtesy of Jeannette Pick<\/p>\n
Danny Pesce died on the 105th floor of the North Tower. Courtesy of Angela Pesce<\/p>\n
The petition\u2019s organizer, Giovanni Galante, whose 29-year-old wife Grace was killed in the attack, previously said that he expects attendees to turn their back on Mamdani if he comes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s going to be there saying, \u2018You can\u2019t come in.\u2019 No one\u2019s going to be arguing with him,\u201d he emphasized Thursday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know he likes to come in your face and try to say hello and shake your hand, but I would definitely ignore him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Memorial attendees plan to ignore Mamdani if he shows up. Erik Pendzich\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
NYC Council member Joann Ariola is hosting a press conference with Galante on Sept. 8 on the steps of City Hall. Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n
In a final action to send the message to Mamdani that he isn\u2019t welcome at the event, Galante and Queens Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola are hosting a press conference on the steps of City Hall on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n
They plan to hand deliver the petition to the mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ariola argued that Mamdani\u2019s personal associations and political moves speak for themselves. She said the executive orders he signed Friday \u2014 designating Sept. 11 as a day of remembrance and creating a \u201cNever Forget\u201d task force \u2014 as empty gestures.<\/p>\n
Jeannette Pick, the daughter of Joseph Pick, said she\u2019ll pay no mind to Mamdani at the ceremony. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
This year is the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all too late, and I believe that it\u2019s all just talk and there is no action because he is continuing to have Ramzi Kassem as his chief counsel. He does not denounce Hasan Piker. He will not denounce Globalize the Intifada and BDS \u2014 boycott, divestment and sanctions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
City Hall referred The Post to Mamdani\u2019s July statement: \u201cI will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year\u2019s 9\/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grief-stricken loved ones of 9\/11 victims \u2014 who want Mayor Zohran Mamdani barred from attending the 25th memorial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5301,113412,34583,65429,426,57,9,24,55,54,56,63,94584,11803,28979,58,82],"class_list":["post-338831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-9-11","tag-9-11-25th-anniversary","tag-9-11-memorial","tag-cantor-fitzgerald","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-petitions","tag-september-11","tag-twin-towers","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}