Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday ducked questions about his links to Hasan Piker — drawing outrage for refusing to condemn the left influencer’s vile statement that “America deserved 9/11.”
Oren Barzilay, president of EMS Local 2507 representing the city’s 4,100 paramedics and EMTs, blasted the socialist Queens assemblyman as “cowardly” for refusing to address his association with Piker, a Twitch streamer with a history of spewing hate.
“For him to associate with someone who thinks we deserved 9/11 is outrageous and should not be tolerated. It shows that Mamdani possibly feels the same way — that America deserved it,” Barzilay fumed to The Post.
“It’s cowardly for him not to answer that question — by deflecting.”
Mamdani — who sat down for an interview with Piker in April — dodged the issue when fronted-up by a reporter before a press conference in The Bronx about reining in ticket costs for the World Cup next year.
“I’m here to talk about the World Cup,” he said.
Mamdani’s association with Piker was brought to the forefront ahead of the 24th anniversary on Thursday of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
On Tuesday, hero 9/11 first responder Sal Turturici, 60, an FDNY EMT who now suffers stage 4 Neuroendocrine cancer, and his wife, Wendi, slammed Mamdani over the Piker interview, while endorsing rival Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Barzilay, who represents Turturici and had worked at the emergency command center and at Ground Zero himself after 9/11, said Mamdani appears tone-deaf.
“It’s 24 years later and we’re still losing people to World Trade Center illness. It’s still haunting us. It’s not over,” said Barzilay, whose union backed Cuomo during the June Democratic primary.
Tom Von Essen, the Fire Department commissioner during and after 9/11, said if he wouldn’t associate with Piker, but if he did, “I’d like to punch him in the face.”
Jim McAffrey, who was a fire lieutenant during 9/11, said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn Piker’s “America deserved 9/11” statement is “just pathetic.”
“There’s no middle ground on 9/11. It’s a real knock against Mamdani,” he said.
Mamdani’s ducking of a “no-brainer” question is also “not a good sign for New York,” said Debra Burlingame, the sister of Charles “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into The Pentagon by Al Qaeda terrorists on 9/11.
“It’s not leadership at all,” she said.
Mamdani instead redirected his fire at Cuomo during the brief interaction with reporters before his Bronx event.
“What we can see is a candidate that is so far behind… What we see is a candidate who is desperate to understand why he is so behind the politics of the future,” Mamdani said.
His campaign on Tuesday suggested that Cuomo engaged in an anti-Muslim smear by bringing up Mamdani’s interview with Piker. Mamdani is Muslim.
Meanwhile, online critics pointed out the Dem nominee has been mailing it in, recycling the same statement every year as assemblyman to commemorate the solemn 9/11 anniversary.
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