New York’s First Lady Loves Hamas
A graceless woman in Gracie Mansion.
March 26, 2026 by Bruce Bawer Leave a Comment
I have a special affection for Gracie Mansion, the large handsome federal-style house, built in 1799 alongside the East River on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, that since 1942 has served as the official residence of the mayor of New York City. When I was born, my parents lived right down the block from it, in a building on East 89th Street called Gracie Gardens. When I was still a baby we relocated to Queens, and over thirty years later, after many more moves, I found myself living again at Gracie Gardens, where I got a remarkable deal on a first-floor co-op.
It was wonderful. East 89th Street between East End and York Avenue was, in my view, not only the most pleasant block in the whole city but also the safest. The mayor, after all, lived right down the street. At that time the mayor was the great Rudolph Giuliani, and even though 9/11 hadn’t yet happened, making him “America’s Mayor,” he was already a hero to me, having transformed New York, to exaggerate only slightly, from hell to heaven. It was remarkable that I could step outside at three in the morning, walk half a block, pass Gracie Mansion, and stroll along the waterside without a hint of fear. In those moments, New York was, thanks to Mr. Giuliani, sheer bliss, everything that a civilized city could be.
I left Gracie Gardens, and the U.S., 28 years ago. But I’ve continued to follow New York politics. Not long after Giuliani saved the city, I was stunned to see the voters put in office – for two terms, mind you – the execrable, corrupt Bill de Blasio, whose policies were precisely the sort that had led New York into disaster. But nothing could have prepared me for the election, twenty-four years after 9/11, of a man who professed to be both a socialist and a devout Muslim. To me, it was a testament to several things: just how quickly memories – and outrage – can fade; just how quickly a generation goes by, swelling the electorate with young people who lack historical memory; just how effectively the legacy media, even now, can brainwash voters; and just how ignorant Americans still are, by and large, about Islam. When Mamdani took his oath of office as mayor, he took it on the same book whose commandments the 9/11 terrorists had been obeying when they steered their airliners into the Twin Towers.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/new-yorks-first-lady-loves-hamas/
