On Monday (Aug. 3), independent journalist Judd Legum delivered an update on a bombshell report that showed that the New York Post published a cover story claiming “thousands” of 9/11 families were trying to ban New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani from the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero.
On Legum’s Popular Information Substack, it was reported that the New York Post’s July 26 cover story written by Rich Calder claimed that the petition “has collected 3,515 signatures in a little over a week, most from victims’ family members.”
That account in the print edition differed greatly from the online version, which stated that the petition by organizer Giovanni Galante “has collected over 1,100 signatures in a little over a week, including from at least 300 victims’ families.”
Galante was contacted by Popular Information about the discrepancy, and admitted that even the lower number in the online story wasn’t substantiated. “We don’t have a list,” Galante said. “If you know 10 people and they give it to 10 more people they know that lost. That’s how we got the 300 number.”
The New York Post would go on to quietly edit the story twice, notably containing an exaggeration of Galante’s estimate from 300 to “3,500 to 7,000” and also “assigned 10 REPORTERS to track down more 9/11 families who want Mamdani banned. They are now up to 10 people. The last I’ve checked, that’s not ‘thousands.'”
A group representing 250 family members of those lost in the Sept. 11 attacks issued a statement supporting Mamdani’s attendance. The statement from September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows also said: “We strongly condemn the anti-American accusations and Islamophobic sentiment underlying the effort seeking to prevent him from being at Ground Zero.”
The New York Post dismissed the group as “funded by George Soros” in another article Saturday (Aug.1), but have not commented further on the story or Galante. The response on social media blasted the tabloid and those promoting the “dark” story, as referenced by progressive outlet the Tennessee Holler.
