PHOTO: An artistic rendition from the Interfaith service at St. Nicholas
After a week of 9/11 controversies—from the Kassem pen to the smiles at Ground Zero—Archbishop Elpidophoros recasts Mamdani at St. Nicholas as a symbol of reconciliation.
By Helleniscope’s Editorial Team
For Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the 25th anniversary of September 11 began in controversy and ended with Archbishop Elpidophoros welcoming him at St. Nicholas National Shrine.
More than 100,000 people had signed a petition asking Mamdani to stay away from the Ground Zero ceremony. Their objections went well beyond the fact that New York now has its first Muslim mayor.
Critics pointed to Mamdani’s association with Hasan Piker, who notoriously declared that “America deserved 9/11.” They also focused on Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem.
Kassem once represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker. Al-Darbi was also the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon. Kassem was doing the constitutionally legitimate work of a defense attorney, and representing a terrorist does not make the attorney one. But symbolism matters—particularly around September 11.
Yet Kassem and his team were given responsibility for helping draft Mamdani’s 9/11 executive orders. After signing the orders establishing a Day of Remembrance and strengthening emergency preparedness, Mamdani had the ceremonial pen passed to Kassem. Former FDNY Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, who led the department on 9/11, was among those who found the gesture offensive. Here is the incident:
Then came Ground Zero.
During the solemn reading of the victims’ names, cameras caught Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez smiling and apparently laughing together.
This sparked a wave of criticism…
Their defenders correctly point out that the television clip lasted only about four seconds and had no audio. We do not know what was said or what prompted the smiles. But that defense misses the point.
Nearly 3,000 names were being read while relatives stood nearby, grieving husbands, wives, children, and parents. This was not a political reception or a campaign rope line. It was Ground Zero on September 11.
Whatever produced the laughter, the moment displayed a remarkable failure of judgment and situational awareness. Public officials should not need an aide to remind them that while the names of murdered New Yorkers are being recited, levity—even for four seconds—is inappropriate. The image was jarring precisely because the occasion was so solemn.
Hours later, Mamdani entered a dramatically different setting.
At St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, the only church destroyed in the attacks, Archbishop Elpidophoros presided over an interfaith memorial attended by Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, first responders, survivors and victims’ families.
Mamdani was given a prominent role. He spoke of September 11 as “the darkest day” in the city’s history, praised heroism and sacrifice, and presented the rebuilt St. Nicholas as a symbol of New York’s resilience.
Elpidophoros supplied the larger moral framework.
Standing in the reconstructed church at Ground Zero, the Archbishop called for an end to intolerance and hatred and celebrated New York as a “magnificent and glorious mosaic of the one human family.” It was a beautiful message, as fake as Elpidophoros ever gave – and he has done his best over seven years.
It was also a remarkably effective whitewash.
The disputes that had surrounded Mamdani all week disappeared: Piker, Kassem, the ceremonial pen, the petition from 9/11 families and, only hours earlier, the astonishingly tone-deaf smiles at Ground Zero.
At St. Nicholas, Mamdani was recast not as a controversial politician whose judgment deserved scrutiny, but as a symbol of reconciliation and interfaith harmony.
That may be Elpidophoros’s understanding of the mission of the National Shrine. But reconciliation should not require amnesia. A church built from the ruins of September 11 ought to be capable of welcoming a Muslim mayor without pretending that legitimate questions about that mayor’s choices are expressions of religious intolerance.
There is, however, another side of Mamdani’s 9/11 record that deserves acknowledgment.
Three days before the anniversary, his administration released approximately 170,000 pages of previously unavailable city records dealing with toxic air, asbestos, public health and the government’s response after the attacks. More documents are scheduled for release in the coming year. The records include material concerning what officials knew about the dangers around Ground Zero and how the city considered its potential legal liability.
We have to note that, in a general climate that questions how much the US government knew before 9/11, with revelations – IN THE OFFICIAL 9/11 REPORT – of “some” people known by the FBI who had “shorted” airline stocks days, hours before 9/11, that was a genuine public service. Survivors, first responders and their advocates had fought for years to obtain many of these records. Mamdani deserves credit for opening them.
Which makes the irony of his presence in the 9/11 events even sharper.
SOURCES:
- Kassem / ceremonial pen: Mamdani had the 9/11 executive-order pen passed to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem, who had represented convicted al-Qaeda member Ahmed al-Darbi. Read the report
- Mamdani and AOC at Ground Zero: Cameras captured the two smiling during the reading of victims’ names; defenders said it was a brief greeting and the clip lacked context. Read the report
- St. Nicholas remarks: Mamdani called 9/11 “the darkest day” in New York’s history and praised sacrifice, resilience and rebuilding at the interfaith memorial. Official transcript
- Elpidophoros’s message: The Archbishop framed the service around rejecting hatred and division and embracing New York’s religious diversity. Official remarks
- 9/11 archives: Mamdani’s administration released more than 170,000 pages of city records concerning air quality, health risks and the government response after the attacks. NYC records announcement
September 13, 2026, www.helleniscope.com, n.stamatakis@aol.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
