Red-faced Mamdani blames his staff after NYPD denies NYC’s first lady Rama Duwaji a police escort to the Middle East
A seemingly red-faced Mayor Zohran Mamdani blamed a “miscommunication” Tuesday after an awkward public clash between City Hall and NYPD officials over whether the department would provide security for his wife Rama Duwaji’s upcoming Middle East trip.
The high-profile back-and-forth appeared to end when Hizzoner asserted that Duwaji would not receive a taxpayer-funded police escort on her jaunt to Syria and Lebanon next month — despite his own senior spokesperson claiming she would the day prior.
“There was a miscommunication. She has not yet taken that trip and when she takes that trip it will be without any NYPD detail,” Mamdani told PIX11, when asked about The Post’s Monday report
A source familiar with the security detail said the first lady, whom the mayor has described as a “private person,” requested the escort, and Mamdani’s office had confirmed she would be accompanied by city cops.
“Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the first lady’s security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon,” Mamdani’s spokeswoman Dora Pekec said.
But City Hall’s assertion drew a stunning response from the NYPD Tuesday morning.
“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” a department spokesperson insisted.
“This is not an investigative trip, and therefore, NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.”
The statement not only undercut Pekec’s assertion, but effectively amounted to NYPD officials publicly breaking with their boss: Mamdani.
One source familiar with the mishap said simply, “They never checked with the commissioner.”
When asked about the disparity, Pekec directed The Post toward Mamdani’s remarks attributing the matter to a “miscommunication” to PIX11 during an event later Tuesday that was closed to other press.
The mayor’s office offered no further comment on the Sept. 20 trip’s details or whether the purpose was solely to visit family.
The source with knowledge of the trip told The Post, “It’s not official business. It’s not doing anything for the city.”
Both countries are on the US State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list due to security concerns.
The prospect of sending NYPD cops to countries on the “Do Not Travel” list struck former police commissioner Bill Bratton as “ill-advised.”
Such an assignment, he said, would be “expensive” and require significant assistance and cooperation from the federal government.
“There would be lots of hoops you’d have to go through for that kind of assignment,” he said.
Bratton said the disagreement between Mamdani’s office and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s NYPD should have never happened, especially over an issue as sensitive as the first lady’s travel.
“You’re going to have to clear up the confusion,” he said.
Mamdani has to tighten up his communication protocols with the NYPD, said David Catalfamo, who served as communications director for former Gov. George Pataki.
He said there’s a “deference” to law enforcement on security measures.
“I suspect communication between the mayor’s office and the police department will be better in the future,” Catalfamo said. “The political folks want to run ahead of the story. It doesn’t work that way when it comes to security.
“The NYPD wants to be there to protect the mayor and his family — but there are limits. Going to Syria and Lebanon is not like buying a ticket on Amtrak.”
Duwaji, a 29-year-old Syrian-American artist, traveled overseas just last month without police protection.
She co-hosted in July a pro-Palestinian all-female spiritual retreat on the French island of Corsica, and was also the “artist-in-residence” at a sold-out “Plants Of The Quran” workshop on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Both were organized by the Women Sanctuary, a Muslim-and-women-focused travel group run by Parisian designer Rym Nur.
The embarrassing snafu over her next trip abroad also showcased NYPD officials’ willingness to publicly buck the mayor, at least when confronted by an apparent error.
Mamdani’s not-quite mea culpa came amid simmering tensions with Tisch, a pro-Israel moderate who hasn’t been shy about her differences with the Israel critic mayor.
Tisch entered Mamdani’s administration by frankly acknowledging her differences with the upstart socialist over Israel and many public safety issues.
Within days of Mamdani taking office, Tisch angrily stormed into City Hall to read the riot act over his tardy response to back-to-back police shootings.
And she regularly broke with Mamdani in the following months, such as when the mayor brushed off a crowd pummeling two cops with snow as a “snowball fight that got out of hand.”
Despite their differences, the pair have apparently worked together productively – with Mamdani more than happy to crow about reductions in crime and chummily share the stage with Tisch.
– Additional reporting by Hannah Fierick
SOURCE: NYPOST