Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined New Yorkers from across religious communities Thursday evening for a Manhattan 9/11 memorial peace walk that included visits to Christian, Jewish and Muslim houses of worship — though the mayor appeared only at the final stop, the Islamic Center of New York City.
More than 100 participants took part in the Children of Abraham Peace Walk, an interfaith commemoration launched one year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to honor the lives lost and promote unity ahead of the 25th anniversary.
Organizers described the annual walk in an online flyer as a way for people to “come together to remember those we’ve lost, and to recommit to our shared vision of safety in solidarity.”
Mamdani’s appearance came at the close of the event, amid continuing calls from critics urging him to avoid 9/11 ceremonies altogether.
The interfaith group began the evening at Hebrew Union College, continued on to Judson Church and concluded at the Islamic Center, where Mamdani addressed the crowd with remarks honoring the victims of the attacks and recognizing the first responders and faith leaders who served the city during its darkest hours.
The mayor paid tribute to the first responders “who rushed towards horror so that others could rush towards home,” singling out FDNY Chaplain Mychal Judge, who is recorded as the first person killed on Sept. 11.
“[Judge] prayed over the bodies that lay in the street before entering the North Tower. Even as the towers began to collapse around, he refused to leave,” Mamdani said.
“He died in full embrace of faith. That faith, that pure expression of love was extraordinary…it was in many ways the light that New Yorkers showed in our city’s darkest hours.”
Mamdani also commended the “chaplains and reverends, rabbis and imams” who, he said, “modeled a selflessness and solidarity and helped to guide our city from the wreckage of pain and loss towards recovery.”
Retiree Melina Holm, who attended the Manhattan peace walk with fellow members of her church, told The Post she “was thrilled that Mamdani made the effort” to stand alongside people representing multiple faith traditions.
“I have always considered myself a daughter of Abraham even though I was raised Catholic. So I was happy to participate in an interfaith walk,” Holm said.
In his remarks, Mamdani urged New Yorkers to carry “that solidarity into our daily lives and to offer it to everyone of our neighbors however they pray,” while cautioning that solidarity “is a fragile thing.”
Earlier this week, however, a group of aggrieved 9/11 victims’ relatives gathered at City Hall to hand-deliver a petition urging Hizzoner to steer clear of ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.
The petition, created by Giovanni Galante, whose wife Grace Catherine Galante was killed in the attacks, has amassed over 111,000 signatures calling on Mamdani to forgo the emotion-filled ceremony.
Over a dozen mourners shared their frustration with the mayor’s confirmed attendance at Friday’s annual ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial during which the names of all 2,983 victims of the attacks will be read aloud.
Some of the families called out Mamdani for hiring Ramzi Kassem — who represented an al Qaeda terrorist held at Guantánamo Bay in 2014 — as his chief counsel.
“It’s not about his religion or where he came from. It’s about the policies he has today,” said Cheri Sparacio, who lost her husband, Tom Sparacio, on the 84th floor of the South Tower.
