Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were captured smiling and appearing to laugh during Friday’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero as relatives read the names of victims killed in the terrorist attacks.
Video circulating online showed Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani standing beside one another during the 25th anniversary commemoration in Lower Manhattan.
As a victim’s name was being read over the loudspeaker, the two exchanged several words before smiling and appearing to laugh briefly. They then returned their attention to the ceremony.
The footage does not reveal what Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani were discussing, and there is no evidence that either was laughing about a victim, the name being read or the Sept. 11 attacks themselves.
Still, images of the exchange drew attention because they occurred during the annual reading of victims’ names, one of the central portions of the Ground Zero remembrance ceremony. The New York Post separately reported on footage of the two officials during the reading.
Friday marked 25 years since terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
At the National September 11 Memorial, relatives traditionally read the names of the 2,977 people killed in the 2001 attacks as well as the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Many family members also use their time at the microphone to offer personal messages about loved ones they lost.
The ceremony began with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Additional pauses commemorated other major moments in the attacks.
Organizers added a seventh moment of silence this year to recognize people who later died from illnesses and injuries connected to exposure following the attacks.
Mamdani’s participation had already generated controversy before Friday’s ceremony.
An online petition started by relatives of 9/11 victims urging Mamdani not to attend surpassed 100,000 verified signatures before the anniversary. Organizers cited several concerns about the mayor’s record and associations, including his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as New York City’s chief counsel, per Trending Politics.
Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who pleaded guilty before a military commission in connection with the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also publicly urged Mamdani to stay away from the ceremony. Mamdani nevertheless said he intended to attend and keep his focus on the victims, survivors, first responders and their families.
Despite their earlier disagreement, Giuliani and Mamdani exchanged a cordial greeting at Ground Zero before the commemoration.
Ahead of the anniversary, Mamdani signed executive orders establishing Sept. 11 as an annual citywide Day of Remembrance and Service and creating a new interagency effort focused on emergency preparedness.
His administration also released approximately 170,000 pages of city records concerning New York’s response to the attacks, including documents involving air quality and health concerns following the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Mamdani said ahead of the anniversary that “Never Forget” represented an obligation to remember the dead and honor those affected by the attacks through service and reflection.
Friday’s brief exchange between Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez nevertheless generated criticism online because of its timing during the victims’ name reading, even though the available footage does not establish what prompted their smiles or laughter.
