New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is now reportedly facing sharp criticism after posting a photo with a controversial Brooklyn imam once named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people.
Mamdani, who has built his campaign on progressive causes and social justice rhetoric, shared the image Friday after meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj at Masjid At-Taqwa in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Standing beside Wahhaj and activist Yusef Abdus Salaam, Mamdani wrote, “Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century.”
His post immediately drew condemnation from political rivals and law enforcement veterans who said the mayoral candidate’s embrace of Wahhaj displayed poor judgment and insensitivity toward New Yorkers who lived through the city’s darkest chapter of terrorism.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running against Mamdani as an independent, blasted the post as “disqualifying.” “Mamdani is proud to be standing with an unindicted co-conspirator in the ’93 World Trade Center terror attack that killed New Yorkers?” Cuomo told the New York Post. “For Zohran to think that he should be mayor of New York, the capital of acceptance and tolerance and diversity, the city and the state where the gay rights movement was birthed, the disconnect is so disturbing.”
Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. I was also joined by CM @dr_yusefsalaam of Harlem. A beautiful Jummah. pic.twitter.com/4kcN4CGlUk
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 18, 2025
Cuomo also condemned Wahhaj’s past remarks about homosexuality, in which the imam suggested that under Islamic law, two gay men found together “should be killed,” though he also told followers not to attack gay people physically. “The fact that Mamdani stands with this imam is disqualifying,” Cuomo said. “New York needs a mayor who protects New Yorkers from terrorism, not embraces terrorists.”
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa echoed that sentiment, calling Mamdani’s meeting “a slap in the face to victims of terrorism and to every New Yorker who values safety.”
The controversy extended beyond the campaign trail. On Fox News, retired FBI agent Frank Pellegrino, who investigated the 1993 bombing, called Mamdani’s embrace of Wahhaj “an example of Mamdani’s ignorance of history.” He added, “Either he doesn’t know who Wahhaj is or he doesn’t care. Whichever it is, Mamdani looks foolish.”
Wahhaj’s name appeared on a list of alleged co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing, though he was never charged. The New York Times previously reported that some former terrorism prosecutors criticized that list as overly broad. Wahhaj, who once delivered the first Muslim invocation before the U.S. House of Representatives, has been active in New York’s Muslim community for decades and endorsed Mamdani earlier this year.
Facing the backlash, Mamdani defended his meeting, claiming critics were targeting him because of his faith. “The same imam met with Mayor Bloomberg, met with Mayor de Blasio, campaigned alongside Eric Adams, and the only time that it became an issue of national attention was when I met with him,” he told CBS News. “And that’s because of the fact of my faith and because I’m on the precipice of winning this election.”
Despite the controversy, Mamdani continues to lead the race by a wide margin. CNN’s Harry Enten said Friday that the race is “pretty much over,” citing polling that shows Mamdani ahead by 18 points.
Still, the episode underscores the growing unease among critics who warn that New York, under Mamdani’s leadership, could lurch further toward the radical politics many residents have begun to reject.
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