Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and current Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared a brief, apparently cordial handshake at the 25th anniversary 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero on Friday, days after a bitter public row between the two. A professional lip reader told the Daily Mail that Giuliani told Mamdani, "I'm praying for you, it's been a long time," though Mamdani's reply could not be made out as his face was turned away from the camera. The exchange marked a striking, if fleeting, thaw after Giuliani had said he was "offended" by Mamdani's attendance and accused him of supporting the movement behind the attacks.

The feud had escalated after Giuliani, who was mayor during the 2001 attacks, told Newsmax that Mamdani, New York's first Muslim mayor, was "disturbing" the most important people at the commemoration. In response, Mamdani released hundreds of thousands of previously unseen records suggesting Giuliani's administration had known about toxic air quality risks in the aftermath of 9/11. Giuliani, 82, also greeted Vice President JD Vance at the ceremony, which was attended by several former presidents including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden; President Donald Trump instead spoke at the Pentagon after being denied a speaking slot in Manhattan.