New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday that his wife, Rama Duwaji, will not receive NYPD protection during an upcoming trip to Syria and Lebanon, after his office initially claimed the department had “strongly” recommended that officers accompany her.
Mamdani told a local television station that the earlier statement had been the result of a “misunderstanding,” though he did not say what security arrangements, if any, would be in place for Duwaji during the trip.
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Zohran Mamdani with his wife, Rama Duwaji, during his New York election victory speech
(Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)
His clarification came after the NYPD publicly contradicted City Hall over the planned visit, which is scheduled to begin September 20.
“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,” mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec had said.
But the department denied that any such escort would take place.
“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” an NYPD spokesperson said early Tuesday.
“This is not an investigative trip, and therefore, NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.”
Both Syria and Lebanon are on the U.S. State Department’s Level 4 “Do Not Travel” list.
“It’s not official business. It’s not doing anything for the city,” a source with knowledge of the trip told the New York Post.
A source familiar with Duwaji’s security detail told the newspaper that the 29-year-old first lady, whom Mamdani has described as a “private person,” specifically requested NYPD protection after making another overseas trip last month without police security.
The conflicting statements sparked criticism over the prospect of taxpayer-funded protection for a private trip, as well as concern over sending New York police officers to countries carrying the highest-level U.S. travel warnings.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told the Post it would have been “ill-advised” for the department to take on such an assignment and said it would “definitely” put officers at risk to send them to Level 4 countries.
He added that such a mission would be expensive and would 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,” Bratton said.
Rama Duwaji
(Photo: AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Duwaji’s trip is also expected to overlap with the 81st United Nations General Assembly, a period when NYPD resources are traditionally stretched because of the large number of world leaders and dignitaries in New York.
The issue is particularly sensitive after Mamdani urged New Yorkers last month to take to the streets to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the UN gathering.
Duwaji, an American of Syrian descent and an illustrator, continues to describe herself as “Syrian” on her website.
Like her husband, she is known for strongly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel views and has previously faced scrutiny over her social media activity.
A 2015 post attributed to her said Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist in the first place” and referred to its residents as “occupiers.”
She also drew criticism after liking several Instagram posts following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, including one praising the assault and another claiming that reports of rapes committed against Israeli hostages were a “mass hoax.”
Earlier this year, Duwaji apologized over older posts in which she had praised Palestinian militants, including Leila Khaled and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. She said those posts had been written when she was a teenager.
Before Mamdani clarified that no NYPD officers would accompany her, pro-Israel activist Dov Hikind sharply criticized the reported security arrangement.
Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism and a former New York state assemblyman, argued that the officers themselves, rather than Duwaji, could be placed in danger.
“We’re putting the officers at risk,” Hikind said. “They’ll be viewed as the bad guys. These are war zones.”
“Duwaji doesn’t need security. She’ll be welcomed as a hero and protected by Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis,” he added.
Mamdani’s later clarification effectively ended the immediate dispute over whether New York police officers would accompany his wife, though questions remain over how she will be protected during the Syria and Lebanon visit.