Sources say Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife is expected to travel with members of the NYPD security detail assigned to the First Couple, potentially bringing taxpayer-funded protection overseas. The trip itself may be only part of the story, as questions surrounding the security arrangements and their cost are likely to draw scrutiny.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji is heading to Syria and Lebanon next month – and she’s bringing along cops assigned to the First Couple’s taxpayer-funded NYPD detail, The Post has learned.
Duwaji will be jetting to the Middle East for a trip beginning Sept. 20 to the countries on the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list for Americans because of dangerous conditions, a source said.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji is heading to Syria and Lebanon next month – and she’s bringing along cops assigned to the First Couple’s taxpayer-funded NYPD detail, The Post has learned.GC Images
The source familiar with the security detail said the first lady, who’s been described by the mayor as a “private person,” requested NYPD security – after traveling overseas last month without police protection.
Duwaji, a 29-year-old Syrian-American artist, has ties to the region and refers to herself as a “Syrian Illustrator” on her website. Her parents are Syrian Muslims originally from Damascus.
Mamdani’s office confirmed the trip and that an NYPD security detail will accompany the mayor’s wife.
“Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady’s security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon,” said mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec.