New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Tuesday voiced support for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) after one of his predecessors, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), criticized him for planning to attend the city's 25th anniversary commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Page A3From§Eachthe early evening edition — 8 September 2026
Mamdani's sincerity test climbs from anonymous letters to the man who ran FDNY on 9/11
“This started as anonymous letters to the editor, which is how you float an attack without spending a real name if it doesn't stick. Now it's the ex-fire commissioner and the ex-mayor putting their whole names on it, and the actual governor of New York is spending her office's credibility just to let a sitting mayor attend a public memorial. Watch who's cashing in real credibility here and who's just writing mail — the bill lands on somebody.”
“Nobody's saying the mayor can't grieve who he wants on his own time — this is just about respect for the families on one specific day, that's the whole ask. And when Tom Von Essen, who ran that department the morning the towers fell, tells him to stay home, that's not politics, that's standing — okay, he made the same request Giuliani made the same day, but the timing's a coincidence. It's a request, not a boycott, and if four people making the identical request in eleven days looks coordinated, that's just what caring about 9/11 looks like now, apparently.”
The receipts
NY Post readers discuss demands by Rudy Giuliani and others for Mayor Mamdani to avoid the 9/11 ceremonies.
Former FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani to skip the 25th anniversary 9/11 ceremony, saying he'll offend families who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks.
· Mamdani’s misplaced sympathies: Letters to the Editor — Sept. 1, 2026 from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Mamdani’s condolences for a murderer: Letters to the Editor — Aug. 29, 2026 from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· 9/11 families plan to ignore ‘spiteful’ Mamdani if he shows up at 25th memorial ceremony from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.