An unusual clash unfolded Tuesday between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office and senior officials from the New York Police Department (NYPD) regarding whether police security would be provided for his wife during her planned travel to the Middle East.
Despite mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec claiming just a day earlier that Rama Duwaji would receive an NYPD security escort, Mayor Mamdani clarified that his wife will not receive taxpayer-funded police protection for her personal journey, framing the conflicting accounts as a “misunderstanding” by his staff.
2+“There was a misunderstanding. She has not yet departed on this trip, and when she does, she will go without an NYPD security detail,” Mamdani told PIX11 when questioned about the publicly funded police protection his wife was slated to receive from the NYPD security division for her visit to Syria and Lebanon.
A source familiar with the matter told the New York Postthat Duwaji, whom the mayor previously characterized as a “private citizen,” requested the security detail herself, and that City Hall initially confirmed municipal officers would accompany her.
“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,” Pekec originally stated.
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2+However, the mayoral statement triggered a swift and decisive pushback from the police department.
“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with Level 4 travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” the NYPD insisted in an official statement.
When asked about the contradiction between the administration’s claims and police policy, Pekec deferred to Mamdani’s statement chalking the situation up to a “misunderstanding”.The source further emphasized that “this is not an official trip” and noted that Duwaji “is not performing duties on behalf of the city”.
Duwaji previously traveled abroad without police protection, including hosting a pro-‘Palestinian’ retreat on the French island of Corsica and serving as an artist-in-residence for a “Plants of the Quran” workshop in Mallorca, Spain.
2+The plan to deploy municipal police officers alongside a private trip drew sharp public condemnation. Local leaders and activists argued that sending officers into active war zones and volatile security environments puts them in unnecessary danger and turns them into potential targets.
Dov Hikind, former New York State Assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, asserted that officers would face high risk in such zones, adding that in his view the mayor’s wife requires no such protection.