When Zohran Mamdani handed a 9/11 pen to Ramzi Kassem, his chief counsel, who once represented an al Qaeda terrorist, it was just the latest in a long line of Mamdani's acts that embraced Islamism.
A report shows how Mamdani, through his appointments and allies, is using his office to reshape New York.
Mamdani’s appointments and allies tell you everything you need to know about the direction he wants to take New York. https://t.co/PK79ps9keO
— Ayaan Hirsi Ali (@Ayaan) September 15, 2026
But Paul Sperry’s recent report for RealClearInvestigations exposes a different reality. Mamdani is using City Hall to empower a network of anti-American fundamentalists who openly despise our values and our closest ally, Israel.
Sperry identifies at least ten Muslim agitators in senior positions within Mamdani’s administration. Among them are individuals linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which the Department of Justice named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case for financing Hamas. The United Arab Emirates has designated CAIR a terrorist entity. Texas has also outlawed the group.
Federal court records trace CAIR to a wiretapped 1993 meeting of Hamas operatives in Philadelphia. There, attendees plotted to create a benign-sounding public that could influence American policy and advance the Islamist agenda. That paper trail led the FBI to sever ties with the organization.
Yet Mamdani has turned what federal agencies and international intelligence services regard as a national security threat into a municipal hiring pool. He has opened City Hall to political operatives from the Muslim Democratic Club of New York and allied networks that weaponize Islam for political power.
Paul Sperry's report says American cities are being turned into 'beachheads' for Islam.
BREAKING: A RealClearInvestigations analysis finds that Islamic activists now hold at least ten (10) high-ranking positions at New York city hall under Mayor Mamdani, including several alumni of terror-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations, which the FBI says is a "Hamas…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 28, 2026
Sperry points to Paterson, New Jersey, which is now home to 30,000 Muslims and America's largest Palestinian community. It has a sister city agreement with the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of power for the Palestinian Authority.
Paterson is just 15 miles west of Manhattan.
Ramzi Kassem has major influence over New York's anti-terror policies, and he ended the NYPD's mosque surveillance program and monitoring of imams believed to be radicalizing young men to carry out violent jihad. About 10 percent of the NYPD force are now Muslim police officers, and more than 40 Muslims have leadership positions in the NYPD.
Faiza Ali, whom Mamdani appointed commissioner of his office for immigrant affairs, is going to spend tens of millions of dollars on illegal aliens and has vowed to strengthen protections for them. She worked at CAIR's New York office.
There are more Muslim activists in Mamdani's administration, too. Waleed Shahid is Mamdani's deputy communications director of economic justice; Mir Bashir is chief administrative officer; Ahmed Tijani is buildings commissioner; Zara Rahim is a senior advisor; Nadia Shihata is commissioner of investigations; Serif Soliman is budget director; Bitta Mostofi is a former CAIR lawyer and special advisor for strategic coordination; Alyia Latif is executive director of the office of faith-based partnerships; and Ali Najmi chairs Mamdani's advisory committee on the judiciary. She will help appoint judges for an "equitable legal system."
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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