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

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.