New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed two executive orders on Friday related to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center Attack in preparation for its upcoming 25th anniversary. Following the signing, Mamdani handed off the ceremonial pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and reportedly asked her to hand it to Mamdani's chief legal counsel, Ramzi Kassem.
Kassem, a law professor at City University of New York (CUNY), served as the lawyer for multiple problematic individuals, including a close ally of Osama Bin Laden, Ahmed al-Darbi, convicted of bombing a French oil tanker.
The first executive order established September 11th as an official Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service; the second established a Continuity and Mission Assurance Team (CMAT) to strengthen preparedness and ensure continued service delivery during emergencies, according to the mayor's office.
In an interview with the New York Post, retired detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Michael Alcazar claimed that the choice to give the pen to Kassem was deliberate and intended to send a message.
“It happened during a ceremony meant to be about the victims," Alcazar told the New York Post, and no one else. 9/11 families didn’t come to City Hall to watch Mamdani spotlight someone whose work intersects with the very ideology that took their loved ones. Commissioner Jessica Tisch was reduced to a prop rather than acknowledging her role as the leader of the NYPD.”
Mayor releases September 11th documents to public
On Tuesday, Mamdani launched a public online portal for 9/11 records, including the initial release of approximately 170,000 pages on health concerns, air quality, and the city's response to the attacks.
"So many of these New Yorkers are ones who made the decision to run towards Ground Zero, and for that, they have suffered medically, and the city should be there for them," the mayor told CBS correspondent Marcia Kramer earlier in the month.
When asked about the 9/11 documents that have yet to be released, Mamdani told Kramer, "If there are documents that we are able to release, I think that they should always be released."