NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch appeared to deliver a sharp rebuke of Mayor Zohran Mamdani while commemorating the police officers who sacrificed their lives following the September 11th terrorist attacks. With Mamdani standing nearby, Tisch warned against those who blur the distinction between the terrorists who attacked New York and the heroes who rushed into the burning World Trade Center. Although she never mentioned the mayor by name, several attendees interpreted her demand for “moral clarity” as a message directed at him.
Tisch delivered the remarks Wednesday, September 9th, during the unveiling of a new 9/11 Memorial Wall at One Police Plaza. The ceremony came two days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks and brought together city officials, police officers, and relatives of first responders. Mamdani watched without visibly reacting as the commissioner addressed how the passage of time can distort the history of what happened that morning.
“Preserving that history also means preserving its moral clarity,” Tisch told those gathered for the ceremony. “The men who attacked this city were terrorists. The men and women who ran into the towers to save innocent lives were heroes.” She then added a final warning: “Twenty-five years cannot be allowed to blur that distinction, and shame on those who do.”
Several attendees believed Tisch’s wording was aimed squarely at Mamdani, according to Trending Politics News. Three people reportedly snickered when the commissioner invoked “moral clarity,” apparently recognizing the possible target of her remarks. “It definitely sounded like she took a shot at the mayor, especially after the pen incident last week,” one attendee said.
The newly unveiled memorial contains the names of 469 additional NYPD members who died from illnesses connected to their work at Ground Zero. Tisch used the occasion to stress that preserving their names also requires preserving the truth about the attack itself. Her remarks honored the officers who rushed to the devastation, scoured through the wreckage for survivors, and later suffered deadly illnesses tied to their service.
The speech followed an uproar involving Mamdani and his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem. After signing executive orders recognizing September 11th and strengthening the city’s emergency preparations, Mamdani asked Tisch to pass the ceremonial pen to Kassem. Kassem previously represented convicted al-Qaeda operative Ahmed al-Darbi, who was imprisoned for his role in the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker. Al-Darbi’s brother-in-law was also one of the hijackers aboard the plane that struck the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001.
Watch Tisch deliver her warning here:
"*" indicates required fields
The pen handoff drew condemnation from relatives of September 11th victims and elected officials who considered it deeply inappropriate. Mamdani has faced additional scrutiny over left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, a political ally who declared in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11” before later backtracking by claiming he was referring to the consequences of American foreign policy.
Paladino has joined relatives of victims, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Governor George Pataki in urging Mamdani to stay away from the Ground Zero anniversary ceremony. Mamdani’s defenders accused the group of targeting him because he is Muslim. Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler called the criticism “bigotry” and said objections to the mayor’s presence were based on his religion.
NYPD officials didn’t identify the subject of Tisch’s warning, and a source close to the commissioner said her remarks were broadly aimed at the politicization of September 11th. The timing came only days after the controversial ceremonial pen handoff, however, and three attendees said they understood Tisch’s demand for “moral clarity” as a shot at the mayor. Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino reached the same conclusion and praised the commissioner on X, writing, “Good work by commissioner Jessica Tisch here.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.