Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were seen laughing together at Ground Zero on Friday while relatives solemnly read the names of those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Video circulating on X showed the two progressive Democrats standing beside each other during the 25th anniversary remembrance ceremony in Lower Manhattan.
As a victim’s name was heard over the loudspeaker, Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez exchanged words before both broke into smiles and appeared to laugh. The pair then turned their attention back toward the ceremony.
The footage does not reveal what the two were discussing or what prompted their reaction. There is no evidence that they were laughing about any victim or the name being read.
Still, the timing of the exchange created a striking scene during the centerpiece of the annual Ground Zero remembrance.
Family members traditionally read aloud the names of the 2,977 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, along with the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Many of the readers also deliver personal messages honoring the relatives they lost.
Mamdani’s appearance at the ceremony had already faced fierce opposition. More than 100,000 people signed a petition urging the mayor to stay away from Ground Zero, with organizers citing his political record and his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as chief counsel.
Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who pleaded guilty before a military commission to terrorism charges connected to the deadly 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg off Yemen.
Mamdani recently directed that Kassem receive a ceremonial pen used during the signing of two Sept. 11-related executive orders. One established an annual citywide Day of Remembrance and Service, while the other addressed New York City’s emergency planning.
City Hall said Kassem received the pen because the chief counsel’s office helped draft the orders and because Kassem was in New York during the attacks.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had also called on Mamdani to skip Friday’s commemoration. Despite those tensions, Giuliani and Mamdani exchanged a cordial handshake at Ground Zero before the ceremony began.
Mamdani previously said the anniversary should remain focused on the victims, survivors, first responders and their families.
Friday’s observance began with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower. Additional pauses marked other major moments in the attack’s timeline.
This year’s ceremony also added a seventh moment of silence honoring those who later died from illnesses or injuries linked to Sept. 11.
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