Terminally ill EMT’s family raises stakes on campaign’s treatment of 9/11 memory and symbols
When Campaign Promises Meet Emotional Historical Weight
The 2025 NYC mayoral campaign, won decisively by Zohran Mamdani in November, was marked by intense controversy surrounding his association with Hasan Piker, a Twitch livestreamer who stated in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” The comment, made years before Mamdani’s campaign but resurfaced during the race, became a focal point for opposition attacks. The Turturici family, represented by Wendi Turturici, wife of terminally ill FDNY EMT Sal Turturici who responded to the September 11 attacks and now battles cancer linked to that service, made their objections public and personal. The controversy reveals tensions between Mamdani’s coalition-building approach and sensitivities around how New York honors 9/11 remembrance.
The Details of the Controversy
Piker, a far-left content creator, appeared on livestream in 2019 making the statement in question. Years later, as Mamdani rose in political prominence, footage of this comment emerged in campaign materials. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s team and Mayor Eric Adams both highlighted the association during the campaign. Mamdani responded by saying during a mayoral debate that Piker’s comments were objectionable and reprehensible. However, the campaign’s handling of the issue, including initial reluctance to immediately disavow the statement, drew criticism from 9/11 families and responder communities.
The First Responder Community Perspective
Sal Turturici represented one of thousands of FDNY personnel who rushed to Ground Zero hours after the September 11 attacks. He spent months on rescue and recovery duty at the World Trade Center site. Two decades later, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer directly linked to exposure during that response. Turturici became an advocate for 9/11 responder benefits and healthcare. The Turturici family’s endorsement of Andrew Cuomo in August 2025 represented a direct statement about values and priorities during the mayoral campaign. Wendi Turturici stated publicly that to her family, the association with someone who made statements suggesting America deserved 9/11 was not mere politics but a matter of life and death. She called on Mamdani to disavow Piker’s hateful words entirely, suggesting his association disqualified him from the mayoralty.
Context and Lingering Questions
Piker later stated his remarks were inappropriate and intended as satire, a defense accepted by some and rejected by others. Mamdani maintained that he had condemned the comments and stood with the Jewish and broader 9/11 responder communities. The campaign surfaced other questions about Mamdani’s framing of 9/11, including scrutiny of his annual social media posts commemorating the attacks. News reports noted that from 2019 through 2023, Mamdani posted nearly identical 9/11 statements each year, with versions from earlier years not mentioning first responders before a 2024 update that did. For information on how cities honor and commemorate September 11, see the National September 11 Memorial and Museum’s resources. To understand debates around symbolic representation and historical memory, consult the National Archives’ collections on commemoration. For research on first responder health and advocacy, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health documents responder exposure and health outcomes. For broader perspective on how political movements engage historical trauma, see the Smithsonian’s American History collections. The controversy highlights how incoming administrations navigate complex historical relationships. Mamdani’s election as New York’s first Muslim mayor creates particular sensitivity around any associations perceived as minimizing 9/11 or American security concerns. The incoming mayor will need to actively rebuild trust with first responder communities and demonstrate genuine engagement with 9/11 memorialization throughout his term.
