Governor Hochul Urged to Remove Mayor Mamdani as AMMWEC Joins Petition Drive
AMMWEC’s Anila Ali Backs Petition Urging Gov. Hochul to Remove Mayor Mamdani
The End Extremism campaign is asking New York’s governor to open removal proceedings under the City Charter after two men were stabbed on the Upper West Side.
A petition addressed to New York Governor Kathy Hochul is asking her to open an investigation and commence removal proceedings against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani under Section 9 of the New York City Charter. The campaign, organized through the End Extremism initiative of The Lawfare Project, points to a pair of stabbings on the Upper West Side as the immediate catalyst for the effort.
On Thursday, July 23, 2026, two men were stabbed four minutes and two blocks apart. Chok Sung, 57, was stabbed in the back near West 84th Street. Moshe Grunhaus, 50, was stabbed in the torso as he walked home from his synagogue on West 86th Street, roughly two hundred feet from its doors. Organizers note that neither man was protected from an attacker reportedly shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
The petition argues that Mayor Mamdani has been made aware of the Jewish community’s public safety concerns, including concerns about his own rhetoric, and that he has failed to act, failed to lower the temperature, and failed to adequately govern. On that basis, organizers are asking the governor to commence removal proceedings for what they characterize as malfeasance in office.
The Case Organizers Are Making
The petition lays out five areas it says define the mayor’s record since taking office:
Petition’s Core Allegations
- School safety: The mayor vetoed Intro 175-B, legislation requiring the Police Commissioner to plan for obstruction, injury, and intimidation at school facilities, and organizers say no alternative plan followed.
- Children in city care: Organizers raise questions about whether removals and screening protections at the Administration for Children’s Services were relaxed.
- Whistleblower retaliation: A Department of Probation employee says she was fired after reporting an undisclosed relationship involving a mayoral appointee.
- Equal protection: The city’s antisemitism framework was revoked on the mayor’s first day with nothing put in its place; hate crimes reportedly rose nearly 12% citywide, 55% of them targeting Jewish New Yorkers.
- Use of the office: City channels were used to call a foreign head of government a war criminal in a video viewed more than 90 million times, before the mayor acknowledged he had no power to act on the claim.
The petition cites the New York Constitution and the state’s Public Officers Law as the legal basis for removal, alongside the City Charter provision allowing the governor to remove the mayor upon charges, following notice and a hearing in his own defense. Organizers say they will deliver the petition and every signature to the Executive Chamber in Albany.
Anila Ali’s Statement
AMMWEC President & CEO Anila Ali issued a statement in support of the petition, framing the mayor’s politics as part of a broader current she says is damaging to moderate Muslims and to the wider American Muslim community’s standing.
“Mamdani is representing anti-American, anti-faith, anti-Islam, anti-Muslim alliances that are radical and hurtful to all moderate Muslims. Mamdani is turning people away from the Islamic faith and creating more Islam and Muslim hatred with his Marxism, socialism, and Islamism. Let’s save America and sign this petition.” — Anila Ali, President & CEO, AMMWEC
Petition and Support Efforts
The End Extremism initiative, a project of The Lawfare Project, describes its purpose as providing educational resources, raising awareness, and empowering community members to address antisemitism and discrimination in educational settings. Alongside the petition, the group is recruiting Rapid Response Volunteers and accepting donations to a Rapid Response Fund supporting protest infrastructure, signage, transportation, security coordination, and outreach.
Sign the Petition
Ask Governor Kathy Hochul to open an investigation and commence removal proceedings against Mayor Zohran Mamdani under Section 9 of the New York City Charter.
Sign the Petition →
Anila Ali
Anila Ali is a civil rights advocate and educator who heads the American Muslim and Multifaith Women Empowerment Council (AMMWEC). Her work seeks to empower female leadership, promote religious freedom, and counter violent extremism.