‘After 9/11, my aunt did not feel safe in her hijab’: Zohran Mamdani speaks to New York Muslims; JD Vance reacts

Zohran Mamdani , running in the 2025 New York City mayoral race, addressed a crowd of Muslim New Yorkers outside a Bronx mosque on 24 October, recounting how his aunt avoided riding the subway after the 11 September 2001 attacks because she felt unsafe wearing her hijab. The remarks came amid a campaign marked by heightened racial and religious tension, as Mamdani and his opponents trade accusations over Islamophobia and public safety policies. Mamdani said that in the years following 9/11, he saw what he described as “undercurrents of suspicion” toward Muslim residents of New York. Speaking in visibly emotional terms, he stated his aunt’s subway avoidance was emblematic of what he called enduring discrimination against Muslims. He used the anecdote to frame his broader message abou