This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
***
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has created an army of social-media influencers to help boost his administration, a recent <a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/mayor-mamdanis-friendly-influencers-and-the-funding-of-public-messaging-in-new-york-city.php">exposé</a> in the Columbia Journalism Review reveals. But while the mayor’s unorthodox media strategy has gotten scrutiny, not enough attention has been paid to the influencers themselves and their views.
Some in the mayor’s coterie are relatively innocuous. But others <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOb3zBSEcmt">celebrate</a> the assassination of Charlie Kirk, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc1oZdxPttV">claim</a> America runs “mass concentration camps,” and make <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV4kEC6gedk">apologies</a> for terrorist attacks targeting synagogues.
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These influencers can hardly be said to represent New Yorkers. Hundreds of posts from those identified as belonging to the group chat of the Mamdani administration media team have been devoted to police and prison abolition, dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and lambasting Israel. The content belies the mayor’s polished image as a moderate and offers <a href="https://cityjournal.substack.com/p/do-mamdanis-wifes-posts-really-matter">more</a> <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/they-want-to-abolish-rent-by-any-means-necessary">evidence</a> that his social and professional circles are more radical than he lets on.
Mamdani has embraced influencer communications since taking office in January. “We need to speak to New Yorkers through every single medium that they see themselves and see the world around them, and all of you are such critical parts of that,” he said at an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/business/media/zohran-mamdani-social-media-creators.html">influencer-only summit</a> hosted during his first week in office.
Joining Mamdani’s influencer brigade is easy, the CJR reported. After filling out an intake form, influencers receive “daily updates, talking points, and clips” through the “NYC Creators Announcements” group chat on the encrypted-messaging platform Signal. The initiative is led by Emilia Rowland, who serves as the mayor’s director of New Media and Cultural Communications.
Until two weeks ago, posts on that chat were <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/04/us-news/nyc-broke-record-keeping-rules-with-mamdanis-secret-influencer-signal-chat-mayors-top-attorney-seemingly-admits">set</a> to auto-delete, in apparent violation of state record-keeping rules. Pro-Mamdani posters have found themselves scoring interviews with the mayor and, more significantly, positioning themselves to secure <a href="https://ipdcolumbia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Mapping-New-York-City-influencers-and-funding-of-public-messaging-4.pdf">paid sponsorships</a> promoting the work of government agencies.
In a statement to City Journal, Rowland said that “the Mayor’s office has never paid a content creator or influencer, full stop.” She added that “We engage broadly and in good faith, including with people who may disagree with the administration or have made comments the administration disagrees with — just as we allow outlets with a variety of partisan slants access to cover the mayor.”
City Hall has <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2026/09/04/mamdani-signal-app-compliance-social-media-influencers-">not published</a> a complete list of the influencers included in the Signal chat. But my analysis of the 33 who could be identified found 18 on the Left or far Left, with an additional 15 posting primarily nonpolitical and occasionally political content.
For some of the influencers welcomed into the group chat, radical rhetoric is common. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc2IwDyMmVG">Framing</a> the Israel-Hamas war as a “genocide,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C8CWUEZJx3A">presenting</a> the police as racial oppressors, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DT0yViFEvcC">suggesting</a> that ICE is a “tool of fascism” are just some of the themes shared between members of the group chat and the <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/mamdani-israel-islam-third-worldism">Mamdani administration</a>. Prominent far-left figures include Christina Brown. Brown, who goes by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/missxtinab/?hl=en">@missxtinab</a> on Instagram, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOb3zBSEcmt">celebrated</a> the assassination of Charlie Kirk (“violence was an answer”), <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DTlGeJzke2v">suggested</a> that ICE agents should be poisoned, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DPmfENYEaIt">told</a> her 282,000 followers, “I don’t love this country. I hate it so much. I want to see it fall.”
She has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DUJW2L3ETbw">described</a> Christianity as a “religion of white supremacy” whose pastors are “COVERED in the blood of enslaved people.” Brown does not mince words, for example, in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DObvSOoETGa">denying</a> that the phrase “globalize the intifada” is anti-Semitic. And she’s similarly blunt when she seems to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOwwb4WkcOj">endorse</a> violence: “Violence wasn’t the answer . . . what do you mean? Violence was the equation.”
Megan Klink, who co-runs <a href="https://www.instagram.com/prettyinformedgirls/?hl=en">@prettyinformedgirls</a>, told her 223,000 followers, “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc1oZdxPttV">America has mass concentration camps</a>” and “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dav7yWPpNua">there is no reforming a f***ing Gestapo</a>,” referring to ICE.
Cassie Willson, who has posted several <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DR29N6Okf3r">videos</a> with the mayor, exemplified the worldview of many of these influencers in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DURI7kpEfVv">video</a> she made in February: “Free Palestine, [f*ck] Donald Trump . . . billionaires shouldn’t exist, [f*ck] fascism . . . no war but class war.” Many extreme viewpoints are intentionally disguised as comedy to blur the lines. “You’ve got to unalive” — that is, kill — “your girlfriend” for working for ICE, a character says in one satirical <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DUMhqUJjfZM">video</a> that Willson made in collaboration with Prance (a.k.a. @bocxtop), <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQA249jjZQS">another</a> of Mamdani’s influencers.
An earlier post by Prance, from an influencer conference the mayor hosted during his campaign, highlights the unseriousness of such <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZWz9dEbui">coverage</a>: “In your time as mayor, are you planning to provide bisexual girlfriends to everyone in New York City?” he asked.
Matt Bernstein is a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mattxiv">self-described</a> “queer jew with long nails” and another of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DQpP0YpgQTq">Mamdani’s influencers</a>. Though he has not publicly disclosed his membership in the chat, Bernstein was granted interviews with the mayor on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DRdGpwxAe2T">multiple</a> occasions. When he is not posting about the need to be “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mattxiv/reels">radically pro-transgender</a>,” he is making videos like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ3XDv_h5MB">this one</a>, where he says that “Israel is the only safe space for queer people in the Middle East . . . because they bomb all the other ones.” Bernstein, who has more than <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mattxiv/?hl=en">2.4 million followers</a> on Instagram, blocked New York traffic “in protest of our senators continuing to fund Israel’s genocide” and explained the Hezbollah-inspired <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/us/michigan-synagogue-attack-hezbollah.html">attack</a> on a Michigan synagogue by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV4kEC6gedk">saying</a> that “violence begets violence.”
Online influencers play an increasingly important role in American politics. Pew Research <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-influencers-fact-sheet">reported</a> that 38% of 18–34-year-olds, and 21% overall, regularly get news from these sources, which they often see as more authentic. Political and public-relations campaigns have responded by increasing their use of influencers, sometimes disclosing these relationships but often not.
“It’s so widespread,” said Kaitlyn Hennessy, a content creator using her own <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kaitlyndoespolitics">Instagram</a> account to underscore the prevalence of undisclosed paid political content. Hennessy previously <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/california-governor-race-influencers">revealed</a> that California billionaire Tom Steyer had spent close to $1 million on influencers and related services in his California gubernatorial campaign.
Candidates often hire media consulting firms — like Fight Agency, which was <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5581737-mamdani-campaign-strategy-agency">retained</a> by Mamdani — who in turn identify and contract with influencers. The content turned out by these influencers ranges from positive coverage of candidates to public ambushes of their opponents. “Some of this stuff where you’re seeing people get ambushed [on Instagram] is paid . . . And the people who are doing it, you don’t even know if they actually care,” Hennessy told City Journal.
“Where it gets murky,” she said, is that influencers will claim, “‘we were only paid for certain posts.’ But you weren’t going to be able to make anti-Tom Steyer posts, then get paid [after that].” Influencers whose messaging diverges from that of a candidate or politician can see future opportunities for sponsorship dry up. Hennessy said that her membership in <a href="https://www.creatorcongress.net/about">Creator Congress</a>, a progressive influencer network, was terminated in August. She was told in an email, which I reviewed, that this was in part because of her “defense of pro-Israel candidate [Jack Schlossberg],” after she <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZluNRMpE7l">pointed out</a> the <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2026/06/17/the-crypto-powered-content-farm-boosting-bores-00964643">documented</a> use of paid content by his opponent in the NY-12 primary, Alex Bores.
The Mamdani administration has already admitted that the use of auto-deleting messages on the Signal chat, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/business/media/zohran-mamdani-social-media-creators.html">reported</a> by the New York Times, violated a New York State law requiring the preservation of official records. The city council has <a href="https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1432368&amp;GUID=C1F696F5-3E6B-4C71-BCC4-608A17168E8B&amp;Options=info%7C&amp;Search=">scheduled</a> a September 22 oversight meeting on the matter, during which a council member will introduce legislation. A framework outlining clear criteria for the inclusion (and exclusion) of individuals from privileged communications will go a long way toward ensuring that media — new and old — are not excluded simply for asking unwanted questions about trade-offs and implementation.
Social-media influencers are likely here to stay in American politics. Both the Mamdani administration and New York City will be better off if we can, through both policy and law, more clearly define their roles.
***
This is republished with permission from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. The original can be found <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/zohran-mamdani-influencers-instagram">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/person/adam-lehodey">Adam Lehodey</a> is an investigative reporter at City Journal.

NYC Mayor Mamdani And NY AG James Make Immigration Announcement

The Radical Threat Of Mamdani’s Unvetted Influencer Army

antisemitism

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday over its latest effort to further restrict foreigners from receiving visas or green cards if they are on welfare.
The Big Apple sued over the Trump administration&#8217;s upcoming changes to the &#8220;public charge&#8221; rule, which allows the federal government to deny immigration status to those who are unlikely to &#8220;be self-sufficient&#8221; and likely to be &#8220;dependent on taxpayer-funded government benefits,&#8221; according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
On September 18, the federal government is set to expand the list of welfare programs that immigration officers may weigh against applicants.
During a press conference on Monday, Mamdani claimed that &#8220;up to four million&#8221; people would be affected by the changes, warning that &#8220;people could die&#8221; as a result.
&#8220;The toll of this new rule cannot be overstated. It is estimated that up to four million people from across the country could unenroll from their health care alone, including 1.8 million children. None of this is abstract. People could die,&#8221; the democratic socialist mayor said.
&#8220;As a result of these changes, the rate of premature mortality in immigrant communities in New York City could increase by up to 10.6% within just the next five years,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The data is clear, denying people services does not erase their need, it compounds it, generating a greater cost to our system that will be placed on the backs of working people for years to come. Nothing about this rule will reduce waste or keep Americans safer or improve New Yorkers&#8217; lives. It is simply a vehicle for confusion and a vehicle for cruelty.&#8221;
In its legal challenge, New York City is joined by Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, California, and King County, Washington.
New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James also filed a separate lawsuit alongside 21 other Democrat-run states to challenge the upcoming changes.
&#8220;We will use every legal tool available to us to challenge this rule and protect New Yorkers from unlawful federal action and stand up for immigrants who are our neighbors, our friends, our family members, but most importantly New Yorkers,&#8221; James, who also joined New York City&#8217;s legal challenge, said during Monday&#8217;s presser.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to the media to demand the

Mamdani Sues Trump Admin To Shield Foreigners Using Welfare

immigration policy

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A man carrying a Palestinian flag sprinted onto the field at Yankee Stadium at 9:11 p.m. Friday, interrupting the Yankees-Mets game on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, before being tackled by security as furious fans showered him with beer cans and chanted &#8220;USA.&#8221;
The man entered from the left-field stands in the top of the seventh inning and ran toward center field while the Mets had the bases loaded, two outs, and a 3-2 count on shortstop Francisco Lindor. Stadium security and NYPD officers chased him down and brought him to the ground on the outfield grass before dragging him beyond the center-field wall. As he was removed, fans seated near the Mets bullpen hurled beer cans and other drinks in his direction while the crowd erupted into chants of &#8220;USA! USA!&#8221; <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/11/sports/palestinian-flag-waving-loon-runs-onto-field-at-yankee-stadium-subway-series-fans-respond-with-usa-chants/">according</a> to the New York Post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A man waving a Palestinian flag storms the field at Yankee Stadium during the Yankees-Mets game on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
Video shows security chasing him down and tackling him as fans reportedly throw beer cans while he is escorted away.
The disruption happened around… <a href="https://t.co/p1JAjGAQCR">pic.twitter.com/p1JAjGAQCR</a>
— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2098763848421376484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
The man wore a jersey reading &#8220;No Kings,&#8221; a slogan associated with anti-Trump protests. He was later identified by NYPD as 38-year-old Kelly Marcucci, who was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors — interference with a professional sporting event and criminal trespassing.
The Yankees declined to comment on the incident, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7586189/2026/09/11/palestine-flag-yankee-stadium-9-11/">according</a> to The Athletic.
The disruption came hours after an extensive pregame ceremony honoring the victims of the 2001 attacks, featuring members of the 2001 Yankees team, including Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Brielle Saracini, whose father, Victor Saracini, piloted United Airlines Flight 175, which was flown into the World Trade Center&#8217;s South Tower.
Play resumed shortly after the man was removed. The Yankees went on to win the game 6-4, aided by a three-run homer from Cody Bellinger.

New York Mets v New York Yankees

Fans Pelt Pro-Palestinian Field-Rusher With Beer Cans During 9/11 Anniversary Game

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani repeatedly marked Independence Day by posting a photograph of a rap group whose members once released lyrics praising 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and comparing themselves to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Mamdani posted the same photograph of Harlem rap group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset, alongside a “Happy 4th” message in 2021, 2023, and 2024, according to a review of his social media history first reported by <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/security/mamdani-years-marked-july-4th-photo-taliban-rapper-who-worshipped-911-hijacker?utm_source=mux&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=social-media-autopost">Just The News</a>.
The posts have resurfaced as Mamdani faces renewed scrutiny over his record and rhetoric surrounding September 11, amid the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The photograph comes from Dipset’s “Dipset Anthem” music video and prominently features members Cam’ron and Juelz Santana, with Santana wearing an American flag-themed outfit.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Zohran used to do 9/11 dog whistles by posting a pic of the rap group The Diplomats each July 4.
Their most famous lyric praises 9/11: “I worship the prophet, the great Mohammed Omar Atta, for his courage behind the wheel of the plane. Reminds me when I was dealin’ cocaine.” <a href="https://t.co/Vqausy7wNM">https://t.co/Vqausy7wNM</a> <a href="https://t.co/dJwhViteJv">pic.twitter.com/dJwhViteJv</a>
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2098563957657309599?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
The group’s history, however, includes lyrics and comments about September 11 that generated controversy shortly after the attacks.
In a 2002 interview with New Musical Express, Santana defended a lyric from a then-forthcoming Diplomats song that referred to Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
The original lyric said, “I worship the prophet / The great Mohammed Omar Atta / For his courage behind the wheel of the plane.”
Santana told NME that he was not endorsing terrorism but said he admired Atta’s “courage” and “love for what he believed in.” He also questioned why the September 11 attacks had occurred, blaming American foreign policy for contributing to the circumstances surrounding the attacks.
The lyric was subsequently changed before the album’s release to refer to Muhammad Ali instead of Atta.
Other Dipset lyrics from the group’s 2003 album “Diplomatic Immunity” also invoked the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and September 11. The group referred to itself as the “Dipset Taliban” and “Harlem’s Al-Qaeda,” while another song included a reference to the falling World Trade Center towers.
Santana also later released lyrics comparing himself to Atta. The material has continued to draw attention years after its original release, including during a 2022 interview in which Santana again discussed his admiration for what he described as Atta’s willingness to sacrifice himself for his beliefs.
Mamdani himself had a failed rapper phase. In 2017, he released a song titled “Salaam” in which he referred to the “Holy Land Five,” the five leaders of the Holy Land Foundation who were convicted in federal court of providing material support to Hamas. He described the song at the time as being about what it was like to be a Muslim in America and in New York City.
The Dipset controversy also comes as Mamdani’s handling of September 11 has become a recurring issue in his public life.
The mayor has faced criticism over his political associations and statements concerning Israel, Hamas, and the phrase “globalizing the intifada.” He has said the phrase was intended as a call for Palestinians to achieve their rights and has rejected interpretations that he intended to endorse violence.
Mamdani has also repeatedly emphasized the experience of Muslim New Yorkers after September 11. On the 25th anniversary of the attacks, The New York Times prominently featured coverage examining Islamophobia and Mamdani’s position as New York’s first Muslim mayor.
In 2021, Mamdani posted “Happy 4th” alongside the Dipset photograph. He used the same image and message again in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, after he had become the Democratic nominee for mayor, he changed course, posting “Happy 4th” alongside photographs from a Democratic Club barbecue in Queens rather than the Dipset image.
Odd, that after becoming a major-party nominee for mayor, and then mayor of New York City, Mamdani stopped using the image.
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NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Campaigns Ahead Of Next Week’s Election

FLASHBACK: Mamdani’s Anti-Patriotic July 4th Posts Dog Whistle Support For 9/11 Hijackers

holy land foundation case

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were spotted giggling together Friday morning while families mourned at Ground Zero as the names of 9/11 victims were read.
Cameras at the 9/11 memorial in New York City cut from a young man crying in front of the names listed at the 9/11 memorial to a shot of AOC and Mamdani as they laughed together during the somber event.
Numerous 9/11 victims&#8217; families had previously urged the giggling mayor to stay away from the memorial on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. City, state, and U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, gathered at Ground Zero for the annual memorial service.
AOC and Mamdani were blasted after the clip of them laughing spread on social media.
&#8220;How the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/tedcruz/status/2098449419544756332">said</a> Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
&#8220;After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. This is NYC’s Mayor,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/InnaVernikov/status/2098448965154886112">said</a> Republican NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.
Commentator Meghan McCain <a href="https://x.com/MeghanMcCain/status/2098439370822873228">added</a>, &#8220;Why the f*ck are these two laughing?!?&#8221;
Mamdani has made multiple callous remarks about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On Thursday night, Mamdani released a statement on the attacks that failed to mention that radical Muslims killed thousands of Americans in a terrorist attack. Instead, he made the horrific events seem no different than a natural disaster.
&#8220;Today, I attended a memorial mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, led by Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, in honor of those who died on 9/11,&#8221; Mamdani wrote on Thursday night. &#8220;25 years ago, we bore witness to unimaginable suffering. But New Yorkers met that moment with a spirit of love, sacrifice, and solidarity that guided us forward. As we remember those we lost, let us continue to take refuge in one another. Let us recommit to the work of building a better city — one that is worthy of the legacy they left.&#8221;
On Friday morning — after major backlash for his previous statement — Mamdani released another statement, in which he wrote, &#8220;25 years ago, terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people, including 2,753 New Yorkers.&#8221;
Earlier this week, Mamdani brushed aside concerns from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Governor George Pataki and said he would attend the 9/11 memorial ceremony. The backlash over Mamdani&#8217;s attendance has been fueled in large part by Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who previously served as a defense lawyer for Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda operative held at Guantanamo Bay whose brother-in-law helped hijack the plane that struck the Pentagon, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdani-to-attend-9-11-ceremony-despite-awkward-ties-to-terrorist-sympathizers">reported</a>.
The Muslim mayor has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/zohran-mamdanis-islamophobia-speech-echoes-famous-norm-macdonald-joke">sparked outrage</a> with comments about &#8220;Islamophobia&#8221; that Muslims faced after the 9/11 attacks.
“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani said last October.
“Growing up in the shadow of 9/11, I have known what it means to live with an undercurrent of suspicion in this city,” he continued, adding, “To be Muslim in New York is to expect indignity, but indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does.”
Ocasio-Cortez has her own history of controversy over 9/11. In 2019, the leftist defended her fellow Squad member, Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), when Omar said of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, &#8220;Some people did something.&#8221; AOC claimed the backlash to Omar&#8217;s comment was &#8220;incitement of violence against progressive women of color.&#8221;

AOC/Mamdani

Disgusting Moment AOC And Mamdani Laugh During Most Somber Part Of 9/11 Memorial

alexandria ocasio-cortez

ted cruz

What does Never Forget mean if I was not alive to see the Twin Towers fall?
My father used to work in an office in downtown Manhattan, just a few blocks from the Twin Towers; only recently did I ask him to tell me about that day.
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He happened to be starting his commute to the office when the first plane hit the North Tower. Like everyone else, he assumed it was a freak accident — a small plane making a low pass before the airport. He decided to stop in the midtown offices instead, thinking the downtown subway would be a mess. By the time he got off in midtown, the second plane hit, and it was clear the nation was under attack. 
After the towers fell, he walked back to my family’s apartment, grabbed his camcorder, and filmed people sitting along Riverside, basking in the sunlight and looking on in horror as ambulance after ambulance rushed downtown, smoke rising against the blue sky.
His office would later be the last building torn down in the wake of the attack; his only recovered items were a small ceramic heart with my sister’s footprints and a cookie jar she and my brother decorated for Father’s Day. 
This past Tuesday, I covered an event for The Daily Wire in downtown New York. Arriving early, I decided to make the trip to Ground Zero for the first time in my life. 
It was a hot September Tuesday with clear skies — just as it was 25 years ago. As I walked north from the subway stop to the memorial, I took off my blazer and continued walking in the September sun. I saw young kids playing basketball in a park along the route. They were enjoying the last of summer before school resumed. Everything seemed peaceful; I could see the new World Trade Center towering in the distance as I walked north along the path.
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And then I saw a disturbing open space, something totally irregular for the New York skyline. 
I knew I had arrived at the site well before seeing the memorial, set at the base of where the towers once stood.
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Before approaching the memorial, I put my blazer back on. Dread and reverence for the place overcame me. A tree with a wreath lay in front of it, surrounded by a low fence upon which families and visitors had placed notes with that same elusive promise to “Never forget.”
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Another wreath lay at the base of the tower, flanked by posters of officers who had died. 
I stood for a moment of silent prayer. 
Then I noticed an entirely different crowd at the memorial — the selfie takers. 
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Seeing this juxtaposition, I stumbled on the answer to the question I and so many others my age have been asking ourselves.
Can you see something that happened to your fellow Americans as the same as something that had happened to your parents? Are you part of the same story? 
As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I challenge each member of my generation to engage more meaningfully with our monuments and memorials than mere selfies. Monuments and memorials exist to transmit meaning and inspire reflection in subsequent generations. They are not fixations of frivolity.
We have agency to decide whether we will be a selfie taker or someone who links themselves with the broader story. As it turns out, the Israelites, ancient and modern, and the Founding Fathers both exemplify how to link oneself to a common historical memory.
For thousands of years, generations of Jewish grandparents, parents, and children have commemorated the Exodus, with the injunction to view themselves as if they themselves left the tyranny of Egypt.
For the Revolutionaries, the image of the Almighty taking the Israelites through the Red Sea served as a powerful engine for the American Founding. Benjamin Franklin <a href="https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/seal-united-states">proposed</a> an image of Moses extending his hands over the Red Sea with Pharaoh drowning in the sea as the official Great Seal of the United States with the motto “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” 
When the children of Israel finally passed into the Holy Land, Joshua erects a monument as a vehicle to transmit both a national memory and meaning: 
<blockquote>He charged the Israelites as follows: “In time to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of those stones?’ tell your children: ‘Here the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry land.’For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you crossed, just as the LORD your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which He dried up before us until we crossed. Thus all the peoples of the earth shall know how mighty is the hand of the LORD, and you shall fear the LORD your God always.” (Joshua 4:21-24)</blockquote>
The Israelites looked to the monuments and asked their elders what they meant, and they were told they marked the place where their God redeemed them, just as he redeemed them from Egypt. The monument promotes introspection and a recitation of where they are placed in that story, and ultimately it inspires both an understanding that memory is inherited and humility. 
Similarly, we today must, as Americans, view ourselves as part of a broader tradition and inheritance; with that come patriotic and proud moments, but it also calls us to place ourselves within our national tragedies. This can look different for different people, but the Judeo-Christian tradition of historical recitation and familial bonds serves as a model for how we can remember what we never experienced.
As I stepped down from the monument, I decided to take a symbolic step backward before walking fully away, in recognition of the sanctity of the place, a step normally reserved by Orthodox Jews when moving away from the destroyed Temple Mount in the Holy Land. 
Today there <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2026-09-10/born-post-9-11-how-young-adults-relate-to-an-event-they-never-experienced">are</a> some 100 million Americans who were not alive to see the Towers fall. I am one of them; but for me, at least, I have come to learn what it means to “Never Forget.”

9/11 Memorial And Museum Prepares To Mark 25th Anniversary Of September 11th Attacks In NYC

‘Never Forget’ For The Generation Born After 9/11

9 11 memorial museum

history

opinion

patriotism

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When hell rained down on Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, most people were desperately running for their lives.
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Father Mychal Judge ran straight into the inferno.
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As smoke swallowed the North Tower, the 68-year-old FDNY chaplain marched side-by-side with the brave firefighters he served. He didn&#8217;t cower.
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Instead, Judge set up shop right in the lobby of the burning tower, uttering prayers, giving last rites to the dying, and bringing a calm presence to a scene of absolute horror. Minutes after the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., sending lethal debris blasting through the North Tower, Judge was struck in the head and killed while praying over a fallen firefighter.
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In the immediate, heart-wrenching aftermath, a group of rescuers gently lifted his body, carrying him through the ash on a makeshift chair. Processed as Victim 0001 of the tragedy, Judge became the very first officially recognized casualty of that fateful day.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This one hurts. 💔
On September 11, 2001, Father Mychal Judge could have stayed somewhere safe.
He didn’t.
The FDNY chaplain walked into the North Tower alongside the firefighters he loved and served. In the chaos, smoke and terror, he remained there—praying, comforting the… <a href="https://t.co/mWrox2xPVw">pic.twitter.com/mWrox2xPVw</a>
&mdash; 🎹 Ames™ 🎹 (@AmesStraight) <a href="https://x.com/AmesStraight/status/2097899470788694323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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For those who knew the beloved Franciscan priest, his ultimate sacrifice came as no surprise. It was simply the final chapter of a life spent running toward the hurting.
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Born Robert Emmett Judge in Brooklyn in 1933 to Irish immigrants, he grew up tough during the Great Depression following his father&#8217;s early death. Embracing his faith at a young age, he joined the Franciscan order as a teenager, took the name Mychal, and was ordained in 1961.
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Judge built a reputation as a compassionate, hands-on street priest across New York and New Jersey. He cared for the homeless, ministered to recovering alcoholics as a recovering alcoholic himself, and offered comfort to AIDS patients during the dark height of the 1980s crisis when many others turned their backs.
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By 1992, he stepped into his dream role as FDNY chaplain. Known for his warm Irish wit and relentless devotion, Judge was a constant presence at firehouses at all hours, showing up to offer a word of encouragement or a shoulder to cry on in New York’s toughest moments.
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In a chilling twist of fate, Judge even confessed to a fellow priest just two months before 9/11 that he had a strange, lingering feeling his time on Earth was swiftly drawing to a close.
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Today, Judge’s legacy looms large over the city he loved. Filmmakers captured his final moments in the acclaimed documentary &#8220;9/11,&#8221; and every September, New Yorkers honor his legacy with the annual &#8220;Father Mychal Judge Walk of Remembrance.&#8221;
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While some Catholic groups have called for him to be canonized as a saint, to the bravest of the FDNY and the city of New York, Father Mychal Judge was already a hero who gave everything for his flock.
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September 11th Terrorist Attacks.

The FDNY Chaplain Who Sacrificed Everything On 9/11

catholic church

fdny

I placed my panic-rations on the checkout counter: a carton of milk, three cans of Spaghetti-Os, and a sleeve of Oreos. Jet black U.S. fighter jets shot through the sky as military vehicles prowled empty streets. If this was the apocalypse, I was sure we were going to die.
It was a strikingly beautiful morning, just beginning to feel like fall, as the sun came up on 9/11 in New York City. I’m still shocked at how quickly it all flipped into a nightmare. But 25 years later, I feel nostalgic for a time when devastating tragedy had the galvanizing effect of bringing people together. Still, what was once common sense now feels like wishful thinking. 
Having witnessed all kinds of New Yorkers helping total strangers without batting an eye on 9/12, 9/13, 9/14, and for years into the future, I found the immediate splintering of families and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles an extraordinarily bitter pill to swallow. Instead of offering a simple gesture of kindness, “stronger together” meant shoving a radicalized fist in a stranger’s face and declaring war. 
<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/">Pew</a> polling following 9/11 revealed a nation in mourning, rallying together despite the immeasurable psychological stress of real fear and sadness. We seemed to understand who the heroes, victims, and survivors were, and where the rest of us could pitch in. Fifteen years later, 76% of Americans still considered it the most important event in our country’s history. 
Now, only 30-somethings are old enough to remember any of it. Vibe checks in 2026 show <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/2026/06/12/on-the-countrys-250th-anniversary-the-american-people-are-in-a-sour-mood/">69% of Americans</a> are dissatisfied “with the way things are going,” while 59% think our “best years are behind us.” We had a good thing going. Is this where it all comes apart? We seem to have lost the plot on the “United” part of our States of America.
A week after 9/11, I attended a candlelight vigil in Union Square. Someone offered me an unlit candle and a light as thousands of tiny flickers illuminated the darkness of unspeakable sorrow. Total strangers felt familiar, holding each other close, singing and silently screaming in prayer. The faces of thousands of “missing” people, memorialized by 8-by-11-inch photocopies posted all over the city, flashed through our minds. Not all would be found.
At the time, I was a 20-something up-and-comer from the ‘burbs, working my first big girl job after college in midtown. It was the era of a Disney-fied Times Square with ice cream artisans singing birthday songs at Cold Stone Creamery — a far cry from the seedy heroin strip club scene of decades past. It was clean — for New York City. Safe, mostly. I had eventually gotten used to eating an egg and cheese bagel on the sweaty subway ride to wherever I wanted to go, at any time of day or night. I had fallen in love with that city and all the people in it.
I was in the shower when I felt my apartment shake at 8:46 a.m. There was new construction across the street, so I assumed it was that. After a second sudden shake at 9:03 a.m. I looked out my bedroom window. The entire construction crew stood still, nail guns in hand, looking over my head into the horizon. 
I flew up the stairs to the roof of my building to find both the North and South Towers engulfed in flames like a portal to hell. A neighbor I didn’t know stood next to me, unable to speak. Time stood still. 
“I wonder how they’ll ever put out the fire if —” The words barely crossed my lips before the South Tower fell into the earth leaving a ghostly plume of thick ash. It felt like just seconds before the North Tower collapsed. The skyline — the one from all the movies — was gone in an instant. I couldn’t even understand the number of innocent people who had just died in front of my eyes. I can’t, even now.  
A few years earlier, I had visited the observation deck on top of the South Tower. The glassed-in space on the 107th floor offered an exciting 360-degree view of the concrete jungle, with an outdoor deck 1,377 feet above street level. Even the express elevator ride to the top was scary and thrilling. It was beautiful. 
It would never open to the public that day, but my stomach twisted into knots imagining a dad with his two daughters squealing with the thrill of imaginary danger, not knowing what evil was coming.
All the trains and buses stopped. The first cell phone I ever owned (a Panasonic-something that didn’t even flip) was useless with downed cell service. My building was situated within the lockdown perimeter where no one was allowed south of 14th Street. Black smoke billowed across the river, but all available air reeked of hot plastic and burning tires. The uninvited smell of death.
The few people I knew in the city were unreachable. A friend worked at the Whitney Museum of Art. My roommate had already made it to the office where we both worked. My mom was getting her masters at NYU, but since I couldn’t text her, I called my dad from the landline in my apartment.
“Dad?” I tried not to freak out and start crying, but that was too difficult.
“Hey, Lauren.” He was calm and serious. Maybe we were both in shock. He was at our house, a few hours away from the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 that had crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. No one knew what could happen next.
I watched people rush across the bridges into Brooklyn. My across-the-hall neighbor — who ran the two miles from his office in the financial district back to our building, losing everything but his socks and clothes along the way — told me people were swimming across the river to escape. It was chaos.
“Should I leave the city?” I asked my dad. I stayed put. What was I really planning to do anyway, walk to Pennsylvania?
Almost everyone has their own story of that day. My LA friends remember waking up to the horror. Others remember the crash at the Pentagon. Still more were stuck somewhere far from home with a grounded flight, as America fell to its knees. Never was there such transcendental mercy in a morning alarm that didn’t go off. 
I was lucky. I didn’t personally know anyone who died that day. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel the collective loss of a city that had been so savagely gutted. 
I wanted to do something. Everyone wanted to do whatever they could. Further illustrating the triumph of helpful humans, I got turned away from donating blood because “honey, we’re overflowing.” At least that’s what the blood bank lady told me. That was okay, though. 
Thousands of NYFD firefighters worked Ground Zero for the 100 days that the site continued burning after the attacks. During that time, someone buzzed my building hoping to collect extra socks and T-shirts for teams on site. I grabbed a stack of oversized T-shirts and a few pairs of thick socks. Just as I was about to hand them over, I spotted a red San Francisco 49ers T-shirt folded neatly in the pile. It was from my uncle, who had suddenly died at age 40 two years earlier. “I hope these help,” I said. “Everything helps,” the woman assured me. My uncle would have offered to help anyone who needed it. Especially whoever got his T-shirt.    
Maybe one of the best things we can do as we move ever further away from 9/11 is to keep that spirit of unity alive. So what if we weren’t there that day. It’s not too late. All we have to do is stick together like we used to. 
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

9/11 Unified America. Just 25 Years Later, We’re Tearing It Apart.

american culture

covid19 pandemic

national unity

&#8220;All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard.&#8221;
The voice of U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Michael Day cut through the static and the chaos as New Yorkers fled to the water&#8217;s edge, trying to escape the billowing smoke and ash from the collapse of the World Trade Center — and following that voice, boats came by the dozens.
Day was supposed to attend a meeting at Tower One of the World Trade Center that morning, but before he arrived, the call came out that a plane had struck one building — and then another plane struck the other. Running to the water to escape the dust and debris, some people jumped into the Hudson River without waiting for boats. Others lined the waterways and just waited, hoping that they&#8217;d be picked up eventually.
&#8220;We were unable to get any reports from lower Manhattan since all the communications systems failed. It was chaotic. People from multiple agencies were responding to the scene without any unity of purpose. There wasn’t a pre-planned response; there was no CONOP for how to respond to two planes crashing into the Towers,&#8221; <a href="https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/remembering-9-11-lt-michael-day-and-the-lower-manhattan-boatlift">Day recalled</a>.
Grabbing the closest emergency response plan he could think of, Day set to work: &#8220;I knew it had a lot of ambulance staging areas. We had a lot of evacuation points identified. Although it wasn’t necessarily a full-scale evacuation plan, it had information.&#8221;
&#8220;I remember listening to the radio because by this time we were underway on the boat and it was just … chaos. Every channel you clicked to, people were screaming, ‘Help, people are here … I’ve got someone hurt here.'&#8221;
With cellular phone service and radio communications unreliable at best, Day shifted to handheld radios and sent Coast Guardsmen to the piers to help coordinate the crowds of people trying to leave Manhattan.
And then <a href="https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Portals/7/First%20District/Bios/Day.pdf?ver=2017-06-23-103351-453">Lt. Day</a> picked up a radio of his own: &#8220;All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governors Island.&#8221;
The boats were already on their way: ferries; fishing boats; tour lines; private yachts; dinner cruise vessels; and even a few dinghies that could only carry two people at a time.
Captain Richard Thornton, who normally ferried commuters from Manhattan to New Jersey aboard the Henry Hudson, <a href="https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/ferry-captain-all-available">answered that call</a>: &#8220;We immediately just took off. We stole the boat &#8230; we didn’t tell anybody.&#8221;
Joining in the relief efforts, emergency responders on the New Jersey side met the boats with supplies: food and water that could be taken back to those still waiting for a ride off the island.
&#8220;We set up three different staging areas because the supplies were coming in so fast and furious that we were running out of room, and we couldn’t distribute them fast enough,&#8221; Day said, later reflecting, &#8220;I broke more rules that day than probably I’ve enforced in my whole Coast Guard career.&#8221;
By the numbers, the September 11 evacuation of Lower Manhattan was bigger than Dunkirk, where between May 26 and June 4, 1940, civilian and military vessels evacuated 338,226 Allied soldiers who were stranded on the beach.
On September 11, approximately 800 mariners evacuated nearly 500,000 civilians from Lower Manhattan in about nine hours. Captain Thornton&#8217;s company alone — which would normally transport about 34,000 people in a day — moved 158,000 stranded New Yorkers to Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Smoke continues to rise from the destroyed World T

9/11: The Coast Guard Lieutenant Who Launched The Largest Boatlift In History

coast guard

world trade center

A breathtaking drone show lit up the skies of Manhattan on Wednesday night as a tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The drones were programmed to recreate the shape of the fallen Twin Towers and used 2,977 individual lights to do so, representing one for each victim who was killed by radical Islamic terrorists on that day.
Organizers said the commemorative public art installation, named &#8220;2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor,&#8221; was developed in collaboration with members of the 9/11 community, including family members, survivors, and first responders, ABC News 7 <a href="https://abc7.com/post/drone-show-recreates-twin-towers-honors-2977-victims-ahead-25th-anniversary-911-attacks-new-york/19813777/">reported</a>.
This included Brenda Berkman, an FDNY first responder and artist; Tim Brown, an FDNY first responder in 1993 and 2001; Terry Strada, president of 9/11 Families United and the widow of Tom Strada; Jim Smith, whose wife, NYPD Officer Moira Smith, was killed in the attacks; and Genevieve Siller, daughter of Stephen Siller, a firefighter who died while saving people from the burning towers.
The free event was meant to promote unity and offer a moment of reflection. Memorial services have been taking place all over the country in advance of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday. 
Most Americans vowed after 9/11 that they would never forget. Unfortunately, some have done just that. A new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-deserved-it-new-york-leftists-defend-9-11-rhf-popup">Daily Wire collaboration</a> with filmmaker Ami Horowitz found a disturbing number of individuals in New York expressing sympathy for or justifying the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. 
In Canada, the CBC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/news-outlet-tells-staff-not-to-call-9-11-a-terrorist-attack">sent a memo</a> to its staff with instructions on how to refer to the 2001 terrorist attacks — specifically asking reporters not to call the events terrorist attacks, but instead to downplay the intent and call them “hijackings,” which “led to passenger jet crashes in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Manhattan.”
But even as some people try to downplay or question 9/11, others are doing everything they can to keep the memory alive. Tribute videos have been racking up views on social media, and stories about heroism, courage, and the resilience of the human spirit keep circulating in advance of the anniversary. 
The drone show is one such example of a simple yet moving way to honor the victims of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.

Drones in NYC

WATCH: Incredible Drone Show Recreates Twin Towers, Honors Each 9/11 Victim

drone show

A 19-year-old Brooklyn man accused of attempted murder was released on $5,000 bail last month despite prosecutors asking that he be held in confinement. Now, police say he has been arrested again after shooting another man near New York City’s West Indian Day Parade.
Nayshawn Wilkinson was arrested Tuesday and is facing a new attempted murder charge stemming from a Monday afternoon shooting near Nostrand Avenue and St. Johns Place in Brooklyn, along the route of the annual parade. Police say a 24-year-old man was shot in the buttocks. The victim was hospitalized and is expected to survive. Wilkinson was taken into custody, and a firearm was recovered, according to authorities.
The arrest came less than five weeks after Wilkinson was released in an earlier attempted murder case. Wilkinson was arrested in July after firing a gun twice at a 15-year-old boy near the Callahan-Kelly Playground in Brownsville, according to the criminal complaint cited by the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/08/us-news/accused-west-indian-day-parade-shooter-was-out-on-bail-for-attempted-murder/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">New York Post</a>. The teenager was struck in the foot and required surgery, while prosecutors said a .22-caliber bullet fragment was recovered from the wound. Wilkinson was charged with attempted murder, assault, and weapons offenses.
Prosecutors asked Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Janice Robinson to remand Wilkinson without bail. Instead, Robinson set bail at $5,000 cash or a $10,000 bond on August 4. Wilkinson posted the bail and was released.
On Tuesday, Wilkinson was scheduled to appear in court for proceedings in that earlier case, but was already in police custody over the new shooting.
The case has renewed scrutiny of Judge Robinson, who moved from Brooklyn’s civil court to the criminal bench and has faced criticism over a series of low- or no-bail decisions. A <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/23/us-news/bail-hating-nyc-judge-janice-robinson-has-knack-for-cutting-criminals-loose-post-review/">review by the Post </a>of 13 defendants who recently appeared before Robinson found that eight were released without bail, including two defendants facing attempted murder charges. In the five remaining cases, bail was set below the amounts prosecutors had requested.
In one of those cases, prosecutors sought $150,000 bail for Adrian Benitez, who was accused of attempted murder after allegedly opening fire during a dispute. A stray bullet allegedly struck a seven-year-old service dog belonging to a woman with Down syndrome. Robinson released Benitez without bail, according to the Post.
Under New York law, bail decisions generally focus on whether conditions are necessary to ensure that a defendant returns to court. Courts historically have not been permitted to simply detain someone because they believe the person is dangerous to the community, although subsequent reforms have expanded the circumstances in which bail can be imposed and require judges to consider certain factors, including prior firearm use.
That framework has long been a subject of debate in New York. A 2025 state Senate bill seeking to allow judges to explicitly consider whether defendants pose a physical threat to victims or the public remained active, reflecting continuing disagreement over the proper role of public safety in bail determinations.
Meanwhile, Monday’s violence around the West Indian Day Parade was not contained to an isolated incident. At least three people were shot in <a href="https://abc7ny.com/post/brooklyn-double-shooting-2-people-shot-crown-heights-new-york-carnival-parade/19803489/">separate incidents</a> around the parade route, while several others were stabbed or slashed during the day’s festivities. The NYPD had deployed thousands of officers and implemented enhanced security measures, including checkpoints and restrictions on bags.

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Left-Wing Judge Let Man Out After Attempted Murder Charge. He Was Arrested In Another Shooting.

bail reform

crime

janice robinson

west indian day parade

A “universal” childcare program in New Mexico pushed by Democrats faces exploding costs and maxed-out capacity. 
The headwinds for the program come a year after the state enacted a comprehensive program set to provide “free” childcare to all state residents. As costs already exceed early estimates, many people looking to become involved in the program have found there are no options open for their kids, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/09/07/new-mexico-promised-free-child-care-all-many-families-are-still-waiting/?utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social">reported</a> on Monday. 
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a potential Democrat presidential nominee in 2028, described the program as “building a rocket ship as we fly it.” The program, rolled out in November 2025 with a budget of $450 million, is projected to cost taxpayers up to $850 million in the next year, <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ALFC%20120825%20Item%208%20Policy%20Brief%20Child%20Care%20Update.pdf">according</a> to the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. 
“No one said it was an inexpensive enterprise, and likely it shouldn’t be,” Grisham told the Post. “It should be something that invests in child well-being and development, and that’s what we’re doing.”
On top of skyrocketing costs, supply of childcare slots has not kept pace with demand. Many looking to enroll in the program are finding themselves on long wait lists with providers that have had no capacity for years. There are currently thousands of parents waiting for openings.
“Families there are still calling around and finding no openings,” said Sara Mickelson, a former official with New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
Republicans have criticized the childcare program as “nannies for millionaires” since there are no income limits on who can be involved in the program. 
“If you’re making that kind of money, you really don’t need this,” said state Republican Rep. Mark Duncan, referring to families with six-figure incomes who now qualify for the program. “Are we keeping kids who really need it out because they didn’t get there first? That’s my concern.”
During debate on the measure, Republicans raised concerns about how the program could quickly become bloated and extremely expensive. 
“I’m concerned about what years four and five look like,” Republican state Senator Nicole Tobiassen <a href="https://www.kanw.org/new-mexico-news/2026-02-13/nm-senate-passes-bill-to-pay-for-universal-child-care">said</a>. “It’s volatile and I don’t know that it’s responsible.”
The embattled program has <a href="https://sourcenm.com/2026/07/30/new-mexico-state-agency-cfo-files-lawsuit-alleging-83m-budget-shortfall-from-universal-childcare/">faced</a> other controversies as well, including a lawsuit from the former chief financial officer of the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department accusing officials of punishing her for speaking up about the program’s expensive costs. That former official said that the program caused an $83 million budget shortfall. 
So-called “free” daycare programs have been poorly implemented in other states as well, with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/free-daycare-see-what-a-100m-taxpayer-bill-got-instead">one recent report</a> from the New York Post exposing how New York City had shelled out almost $100 million to rent empty preschool classrooms. Those classrooms were meant to be used in the Big Apple&#8217;s universal preschool program.

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