Two men recently attempted to carry out an alleged terrorist attack in New York City, an attack that, according to investigators, was intended to kill as many as 60 people. Details are still unfolding, but the intent appears unmistakable: mass casualties and maximum fear.
For many New Yorkers, the immediate question wasn’t just how the plot was stopped. It was how the city’s new leadership would respond — specifically, how Mayor Zohran Mamdani would react. The answer was not encouraging, and it’s not a reassuring sign for the next four years.
After the 9/11 attacks, the city faced profound uncertainty. I was here then, working as a cop in Manhattan. No one knew what would come next or whether the city could recover. We initially didn’t even know who had attacked us.
What steadied New York was leadership. Mayor Rudy Giuliani projected calm and resolve, offering reassurance when it was needed most. Just as critical was the role of the NYPD, which secured Lower Manhattan, restored order and helped normalize life. There was no prolonged military presence. The police handled it.
What followed was a remarkable recovery. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, crime fell to historic lows, tourism surged and neighborhoods flourished. It worked so well that, over the ensuing years, many came to believe terrorism was no longer an immediate threat. In the Intelligence Bureau, where I served, we had a saying: “The further we get from 9/11, the closer we get to 9/10.”
Now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and with global tensions rising — including conflict involving Iran — New York once again faces that reality. And once again, it has been the NYPD that stepped forward. When the two suspects allegedly attempted to deploy improvised explosive devices, it wasn’t rhetoric that stopped them. It was police work — officers pursuing and tackling a fleeing suspect in real time.
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The response from city hall, however, was less inspiring. Mamdani appeared to pivot quickly to a favored political narrative, initially focusing on “White supremacy” before grudgingly admitting the terrorist attack. It is telling that the mayor’s and other city leaders’ reflex was to immediately focus on the idiotic — but peaceful — demonstration the terrorists were targeting rather than two allegedly ISIS-inspired perpetrators.
Compounding that concern was a highly publicized Ramadan event at Gracie Mansion featuring Mahmoud Khalil, who was previously taken into federal custody following his involvement in disruptive protests at Columbia University.
The optics were hard to miss, particularly coming on the heels of a near mass-casualty attack. Khalil, facing deportation for campus activism, is the hero. The police, who just days earlier apprehended two terrorists, are not. None of the cops involved got their Gracie Mansion moment.
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Mamdani represents a younger generation that did not experience 9/11 in the same formative way. For many New Yorkers, that day still defines how seriously threats are taken. Yet the mayor’s dogged ideological posture — particularly his embrace of “collectivist” themes — suggests a naive worldview that risks prioritizing theory over hard-earned lessons. In short, when it comes to public safety, he does not appear to be learning.
At a time when New York is still recovering from COVID-19, that carries real-world consequences. Financial warning signs are already visible, with three different rating agencies raising concerns about the city’s fiscal outlook by downgrading New York’s bond rating.
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New York’s history makes one point clear: Everything begins with public safety. Investment, tourism, the economy and quality of life, all depend on it — and on a supported NYPD. There was a time when Wall Street could be counted on to drag us out of the doldrums. But in a remote worker economy, that cushion is gone.
So, at the 100-day mark of Mamdani’s administration, residents here — and indeed, in many blue cities around the country — are forced to consider: do we have leadership that is up to handling crisis?
Based on what we’ve seen so far in New York, the answer is far from reassuring.
