NYC Mayor’s Wife Denied NYPD Security for Syria, Lebanon Trip in September

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office claimed the NYPD would escort his wife Rama Duwaji to Syria and Lebanon in September, but the police department flatly rejected the arrangement on August 12. Both countries are on the State Department’s Level 4 “Do Not Travel” list due to terrorism and armed conflict. Mamdani blamed a staff “miscommunication” after the public contradiction, and Duwaji will now travel without taxpayer-funded protection.

The conflicting claims

On August 11, Mamdani’s spokeswoman Dora Pekec told the New York Post that the security detail would join Duwaji on her family visit, saying it came “upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD.” The next morning, the NYPD issued a statement directly contradicting this claim. “The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level 4 travel advisories for discretionary reasons such as personal travel,” the department told Fox News. Scott Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association, rejected any suggestion officers would deploy overseas. “Our detectives are needed here in New York City protecting residents and fighting crime,” Munro said.

Why the NYPD refused

NYPD policy prohibits sending officers to Level 4 travel advisory countries unless the trip involves legitimate law enforcement or intelligence work. Syria received its Level 4 designation on July 8, 2026, and Lebanon on June 5, 2026. Both countries face severe risks of active armed conflict, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping. The department made clear this was a personal trip with no investigative purpose. A source told the New York Post that Duwaji specifically requested the security detail after returning from a previous overseas trip without protection.

Mamdani’s response and the travel plans

When asked about the contradiction on Tuesday, Mamdani told PIX11 there was a “miscommunication” and that Duwaji would travel without any NYPD detail. The mayor’s office offered no further explanation for why his spokeswoman made the initial claim. Duwaji, 29, a Syrian-American illustrator born in Texas and raised in New Jersey and Dubai, is scheduled to depart September 20. She will likely need to arrange private security for the trip at her own expense.

Political context

The dispute highlights tension between Mamdani and the NYPD. In 2020, during national unrest following George Floyd’s murder, Mamdani, then a state assembly candidate, publicly called for the NYPD to be defunded. He married Duwaji in February 2025 in a City Hall ceremony. The public clash between his office and the police department underscores the limits of mayoral authority over department operations and policy.

Final Thoughts

Duwaji will travel to Syria and Lebanon without NYPD protection, settling a public dispute between City Hall and the police department over policy and taxpayer funding. The incident exposes internal miscommunication at City Hall and reinforces NYPD’s refusal to deploy officers on personal trips to high-risk countries.

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