Debates over a mayor's Sept. 11 attendance turn on whether showing up is an institutional duty of the office, regardless of who holds it, or a personal honor that bereaved families can withhold

Marking twenty-five years since the attacks that killed 2,977 people, the ceremony has become contested. A petition led by a victim's widower asks organizers to bar Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who intends to attend and has designated the date a citywide day of remembrance and service.