Politicians have kept attending New York's Sept. 11 ceremony without speaking; in 2016, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both attended at ground zero and paused their TV ads

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New York City mayors have traditionally attended the annual Ground Zero ceremony, and since 2012 elected officials attend without speaking so that the reading of names remains the focus

Because elected officials have not spoken at the Ground Zero ceremony since 2012, the dispute over Mayor Zohran Mamdani concerns his presence rather than anything he would say

One view treats the Sept. 11 ceremony as mourning owned by victims' families, who may object to an official; another treats it as a civic ceremony where elected leaders attend as witnesses

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum describes its ceremony as a solemn event where elected officials of both parties bear witness, giving a mayor's silent presence symbolic weight for bereaved families

Since 2012, elected officials have been barred from speaking at New York's Sept. 11 ceremony, which organizers said should stay free of politics and center on family members reading victims' names

Family-led campaigns to keep a specific official away from New York's Sept. 11 ceremony test whether the memorial's 2012 ban on speeches by elected officials can keep the event free of politics

Disputes over who attends 9/11 ceremonies divide those who treat victims' families' feelings as decisive from those who see a civic ritual where elected officials attend as witnesses regardless of politics

In 2012 the 9/11 memorial foundation barred politicians from speaking at the Ground Zero ceremony so that the families' reading of names would be its exclusive, politics-free focus

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum's annual Ground Zero ceremony centres on relatives reading aloud the names of people killed on 9/11 and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing

Under 9/11 memorial policy, elected officials from across the political spectrum attend the Ground Zero ceremony to bear witness, deliver no remarks and stay in a designated area

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum holds an annual ceremony at the World Trade Center site where victims' relatives read aloud the names of those killed

One view treats the 9/11 ceremony as belonging first to bereaved families whose objections should be decisive, while another treats a mayor's attendance as a civic duty of the office

A New York City mayor skipping the Ground Zero anniversary ceremony would break a long tradition of the city's top official joining families where the largest of the September 11 attacks occurred

The National September 11 Memorial stopped allowing speeches at its Ground Zero anniversary ceremony after the first decade, centering the event on the reading of victims' names

Nearly every New York City mayor has attended the city's official Ground Zero ceremony on the September 11 anniversary, according to ABC News and Newsweek

Debate over excluding an elected official from a 9/11 ceremony turns partly on whether exclusion protects a nonpartisan remembrance or itself politicizes the day

Disputes over an elected official's presence risk turning the September 11 anniversary, traditionally a day when political leaders set aside partisan differences, into a partisan fight

The first commemoration at the World Trade Center site was held six months after the 2001 attacks, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg serving as master of ceremonies for roughly a decade

Because the 9/11 memorial ceremony already bars attending officials from speaking, disputes over an official's attendance concern presence and symbolism rather than anything the official might say

The annual September 11 remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City is invitation-only, attended by victims' families, dignitaries and invited guests