9/11 families demand Mamdani STAY HOME

Good afternoon everybody and thank you. for joining us. Today we are here on. behalf of the 9/11 families, survivors, first responders, and concerned New. Yorkers to make a respectful but. important request of Mayor Zohran. Mamdani. Please do not attend the 25th. anniversary September 11th commemoration. at the World Trade Center. A petition with over 100 signatures of. family members, first responders, and. concerned citizens will be delivered to. the mayor today asking just that. We will now hear from the members of the. 9/11 community who will explain why this.

request matters so deeply. I'd first. like to introduce Giovanni Galante who. began the petition. His wife Grace was. murdered in the attacks on September. 11th. >> Good morning. My name is Giovanni. Galante. I'm here to honor my beautiful. wife and to have this man not attend our. service. Uh the main purpose is just that. We. don't believe in what he believes in and. we really want us to be left alone. It's the purpose of this whole thing, this 25th anniversary, is for.

uh you know, victims and us survivors to. blend in and pray that day for all the. families, not have a circus around us. So, my thoughts, my prayers are with all the. family members. I thank everyone. This. is my beautiful wife, Grace Galante, and. I just want to say thank you for having. us here for this moment. >> Next we will have Monica Iken whose. husband Michael was murdered in the. attacks.

>> Uh thank you all for being here. Uh I. lost my beloved Michael Patrick Iken. on September 11th. His birthday is. actually today, so I'm wishing him a. happy birthday in heaven. He would have. been 62, so it's a blessing that we can. go to this memorial and honor our loved. ones and not just their death. So, that's a very important thing. And also, I support the families. I feel like if. the families really feel, if we feel. that we don't want someone at our. world-class Memorial Museum that's.

sacred and hallowed. We feel that that. person should respect our wishes. It's. nothing against the mayor. It's just. against the fact that we feel. he wasn't even here. He was 10. He. wasn't in this country. And I think he. should really respect us as if we're his. constituents. We're I'm a native New. Yorker, born and bred my whole life. And. I think if someone says. just give us some 7 to 11. Just let us. have our peace at our memorial to really. understand why we're here. We're.

honoring our loved ones. And he didn't. go to the 20 He didn't go to the 25th. anniversary of flight of of of '93, the. bombing. So, and he was free. So, I. don't know why he's so adamant about. going to this one when we just asked. that he just respect us from 7 to 11 and. let us have our morning and understand. that this is sacred and hallowed space. And we just want anyone who's there have. been involved. The people that are. showing up have been around 25 years and. they've all helped us in some some way,

shape, or form to make this world-class. memorial. a reality and the museum. So, with that, we just respect just respect the. families and. just honor our wishes. Thank you. >> Next we will have Sherry Spooraccio who. will speak about her husband Tom who. worked in the South Tower and was. murdered that day. >> I thank you all. Um.

my husband Tom was killed 9/11. Um. he worked for Euro Brokers. He was 35 years old. I want to make clear that our petition. is not about. Mayor Momdani's religion or where he. came from. It is strictly about the. policies that he has today. Yes, he was. a 9-year-old boy when 9/11 happened, but. it is today that he stands with people. like Hassan It is today that he.

hires people like. uh. Ramsy Cassin. It is today that he stands. with an Imam that was a co-conspirator. of the '93 bombing. That is what we. object to. Anyway, thank you all for hearing me. >> I'd like to now call up Janette Pucchio. Pic, who was only 9 years old when her. father was killed on the 94th floor of. the South Tower.

>> Hi, my name's Janette Pucchio Pic. I. lost my father, Joseph Oswell Pic, in. the. South Tower. He. My message to Mayor Mondani is, "Dude, we don't want you to come.". >> We will now have Charles Wolf, who will. speak about his wife Catherine, who.

worked in the North Tower. >> Hi, I'm Charles Wolf. This is my wife. Catherine. She. the first plane hit her office directly. and annihilated everybody instantly. Mayor Mondani. is serving himself, not the people. We all went through a traumatic event. And we had politicians that were by our.

side, helping us, inviting us into their. homes, caring about us. We don't want. a mayor. who only wants to be there for the. publicity. This mayor is not serving us. He's serving himself. We are asking, respectfully, that he not show up.

Even though there's going to be other. politicians there, these are the. politicians that helped us, pushed. beneficial laws through, and literally held our hand. during that time. Mayor Mamdani has not shown any of that. None of it. He just wants to be there. because he wants to be there. So, we are. asking him. to respect. the fact that that trauma is revived.

during the ceremony. It is a private. ceremony. It is not a public ceremony. Mayor Mamdani, please, do not come. Thank you. >> Next, we will hear from Council Member. JoAnne Ariola.

>> 101,000. people signed the petition. asking Mayor Mamdani not to attend the. 9/11 memorial service. Why did they do that? Why did Mr. Galante feel so compelled, and my colleague Vickie Paladino and. myself,

so aligned with that? Because Mayor Mamdani has done. everything he can to suck the oxygen out. of the room for But particular event. we're holding today. from performative signings of executive. orders to an 8:30 not planned in advance. release that he's going to release the. information regarding the air quality. down at 9 down at 9/11 at ground zero.

ground zero. What he's trying to do is deflect as he. always does from the real issue which is. that he does not care about 9/11. or the tragedies that took place because. he surrounds himself with people who. believe that America deserved what it. got. And he does not disavow them. He does not step away from them. That's really why he shouldn't be there.

Other politicians will be there. No one. will speak. It is about the survivors. It is about those who who were murdered. that day. But Mayor Mamdani. he surrounds himself with people who say. that if your hands are dirty you should. wipe them on the flag. He surrounds. himself with people who have. represented. Al-Qaeda members who took the lives of. Americans.

He doesn't understand. that the people standing behind me. and the 101,000 people who signed the. petition. feel that he is as much against them. as those terrorists were on the day they. lost their loved ones. So Mayor Mamdani. for once listen to your constituents and. not your influencers. and stay away from an event a ceremonial.

commemoration. of the lives that were lost on 9/11. >> Next, we will hear from John McDevitt, who is the president of the Port. Authority Retired Police Association. >> Hello, I'm John McDevitt, the president. of the Port Authority Retired Police. On. 9/11, we lost 37 police officers in one. day, the biggest loss of any police. department in the nation's history. And.

we, too, are asking for the mayor not to. show up on 9/11. >> I'd like to call up Council Member Vicki. Paladino. >> Good morning, everybody. How are you? Well, here we stand on the steps of City. Hall, 25 years later. Who would have ever thought in a million. years. that we would have a petition. with 101,000 names on it of fellow New.

Yorkers standing on the steps of City. Hall. asking for a mayor not to attend. the most tragic day in our nation's. history. that happened to be right here in New. York City. But, we are standing here, and we are standing strong. I'm not asking politely for the mayor. not to come to 9/11, to that ceremony. I am asking, I am demanding that he not.

show his face. at that sacred ground. He does not. belong there. When you associate yourself with the. likes of Hasan. and you have as your chief. uh counselor right here in this. building, Ratsame. pen. yesterday, very cryptic, through our. police commissioner, so that it could go. into his hands.

That was a message to and every one of. us. Cryptic as it is, but read through the. lines. What's going on here in City Hall and. what we got representing us here in City. Hall, they do not belong on sacred ground. I. can go through a list. of people that he associates himself. with and continues to associate himself. with. We, the people,

do not. care for Zohran Mamdani. 101,000. names is not a drop in the bucket. Do. not, Zohran Mamdani, take us New Yorkers. for granted. We were there that day. The sky looked very similar to this. Stay put. Stay in City Hall and promote. your propaganda. Thank you very much, Vicki Paladino.

>> And finally, we'll hear from Bill. Donohue, who's the president and CEO of. the Catholic League. >> Thank you. I'm Bill Donohue, president. of the Catholic League. Uh on that fateful day, 9/11, I looked. out my window on 34th Street and 7th. Avenue and saw the Twin Towers go down. I'm a veteran, United States veteran, and I don't have a whole lot to say. about Zohran Mamdani. He should not be here. I wrote him a. letter on August the 3rd. It's up on our.

website explaining why he's such a. divisive figure. He said that something. happened on 9/11. I'll tell you what. happened. Radical Muslims came in here. to bomb the United States of America. I. don't say Muslims, cuz that's wrong. I'm. talking about radical Muslims. He can't. bring himself to say that. He's more. concerned about Islamophobia than he is. the death of 3,000 people, innocent. people, on that day. This man is a disgrace to veterans, and. believe me, as a Catholic, we contacted.

the NYPD, the FDNY, and Port Authority a. year later, 85%. of the first responders who were. murdered, they were Catholic. So, we. have a special interest in that, too. And we stand with our Jewish brothers. and sisters against the likes of Hasan. who says nothing but good things. about the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas. It's a disgrace. Mondaire, do us all a favor and just. stay home. >> We'll take any questions now.

Okay. >> Any questions? >> I'd just like to thank all the. councilwomen and people that are behind. me for setting this up and having you. guys here to represent us and show that. this man is not for us. He's not someone. for the people. We, as Americans, should all view this. the same way. We live in New York City,

one of the biggest states in America. Most money comes out of this state. Things grow here, buildings go up. We. need people that want to help Americans, not change our way of life. That's all I. want to say, and I thank you again. >> Okay.

>> This is what everything you do. We want. you at the Catholic League all the time. You're the only ONE THAT HAS ANY GUTS. AROUND HERE. >> [laughter]. >> WELL, EVERYBODY'S GOT GOT a few people. got guts. I'm the one with the biggest. mouth and the most value. It was a. pleasure. We're going to.