On Thursday, New York is preparing to mark the 24th anniversary of the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. This year’s commemoration is set against a backdrop of deep political division, both in the city and across the country. Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the memorial events at Ground Zero in Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed. The attacks also included a plane crash at the Pentagon and another in rural Pennsylvania.
Currently, New York is in the midst of an unprecedented mayoral election campaign. The race features socialist Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is leading with a 22-point margin, facing off against former governor Andrew Cuomo and the sitting mayor Eric Adams. The campaign has been highly contentious, with President Donald Trump repeatedly attacking Mamdani, a Muslim and naturalized U.S. citizen, and a Republican lawmaker even calling for his deportation. Mamdani told The Times that 9/11 was a horrific day that also marked many New Yorkers as “other,” referring to the surge in Islamophobic attacks that followed.
