Members of the Bomb Squad and the FBI examine a suspicious machine on the Higher East Facet a day after the Gracie Mansion tried bombing on March 7, 2026.
Picture by Dean Moses
Mayor Zohran Mamdani reaffirmed on Tuesday his help free of charge speech in New York Metropolis within the wake of a Saturday bomb scare throughout an anti-Muslim protest and counterprotest exterior Gracie Mansion.
Hizzoner additionally emphasised that each one violence have to be unequivocally condemned in New York Metropolis, no matter ideological intent.
On the scene of the Saturday protest and counterprotest, the NYPD arrested two males, Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, for allegedly throwing suspicious gadgets. The gadgets had been later found to be makeshift bombs that by no means detonated, thrown with the intention of killing a number of folks.
Balat and Kayumi are going through federal terrorism prices for the allegedly “ISIS-inspired” terror plot.
“What we want to deliver to New Yorkers is a city that is safe, a city that believes in the values where everyone who calls it home is considered to be a part of it,” Mamdani stated on March 10. “There is no tolerance for any kind of violence within that vision of our city or the way in which we lead this city.”
“Extremism and hatred of any kind will not be tolerated in our city,” Mayor Mamdani stated. “That is regardless of whatever ideology motivates any person to commit an act of violence. There is no tolerance for it here.”Ed Reed/Mayoral Images Workplace
Within the days after the protest and the bomb scare, the mayor has emphasised the significance of free speech in New York Metropolis, whereas clarifying that he finds hateful speech reprehensible.
He stated that Saturday’s anti-Muslim protest promoted a “vision of a city that does not leave room for more than a million Muslims who call this city their home, and it is a vision that I abhor.”
“I also still do believe that those protesters have a right to protest, and that is part of what it means to be able to stand up for the laws of this city as well as the constitution of our country,” Mamdani stated.
New York Metropolis, Mamdani stated, have to be a metropolis “that has respect for every single New Yorker.”
“That’s the city that I grew up in, that’s the city that I love, I know that’s a city that still exists,” Mamdani stated.
He additionally argued that hateful views should not dominant in New York Metropolis, and that, reasonably, hate and violence is coming from elsewhere. Balat and Kayumi got here to New York forward of the protest from Pennsylvania.
“And I also think that, oftentimes, when we see these kinds of displays, they are not coming from New Yorkers,” Mamdani stated.
One other bomb scare at Gracie Mansion
Shortly after Mamdani’s Tuesday remarks, the NYPD alerted the general public that it was investigating a “suspicious device” close to East Finish Avenue between East eighty fifth and East 87th Road — near Gracie Mansion. The NYPD introduced at 2:40 p.m. that the machine was decided to be non-threatening and that the realm had been cleared.
“The NYPD responded immediately and secured the area. Thankfully, the device has been determined to be non-threatening,” Mamdani wrote in a day put up to X. “Thank you to the NYPD officers and Bomb Squad members who acted quickly to ensure New Yorkers are safe.”
Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin — who represents the Higher East Facet — acknowledged the Saturday terror plot and Tuesday bomb scare in an announcement, condemning hate and affirming that town is dedicated to security.
“Over the past four days, our district has endured an alarming series of incidents: multiple suspicious devices and an attempted act of terrorism outside of Gracie Mansion,” Menin stated within the assertion, thanking NYPD officers for his or her work. “This has been an incredibly difficult and unsettling time for our community. New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in their homes and on their streets.”
Mamdani addresses private security, free speech
The protest, titled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” was led by far-right provocateur and pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang. Mamdani is town’s first-ever muslim mayor.
Mamdani stated he’s “deeply thankful to the men and women of the NYPD, many of whom are on my security detail and ensure that I am safe, that my wife is safe.”
He stated that his safety element permits him to go about his work as mayor with out worrying about his personal security, and that hateful language in opposition to him impacts him lower than hateful language “used to describe so many who call this city home.”
