Survivors of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center have criticized mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani after he shared a photo posing with a controversial imam, whom federal prosecutors once labeled an “indicted co-conspirator” in the attack.

Mamdani, at 34, shared an image last Friday featuring him smiling alongside 75-year-old Imam Siraj Wahhaj. Mamdani described Wahhaj as a “leader and pillar” within Brooklyn’s Muslim community and beyond.

This post quickly drew backlash, especially from individuals connected to the bombing, who highlighted Wahhaj’s contentious history. Among the critics are those who survived the terror event and remember the imam’s alleged involvement.

“We must not downplay what occurred,” emphasized former Port Authority executive director Stan Brezenoff, who was stationed at the World Trade Center during the bombing. Islamic extremists had detonated a powerful car bomb in the North Tower’s parking garage, intending to collapse both towers. The attack resulted in six fatalities and injured over a thousand individuals.

Brezenoff described the event as a “hellish experience,” overshadowed by the horrific events of 9/11. He noted that while the 2001 attacks, which ultimately brought down the towers, have overshadowed the earlier bombing for many, New Yorkers who experienced it firsthand have not forgotten.

“The hospitals were overwhelmed,” Brezenoff said, recalling how the towers were closed “for months” and that workers were terrified to return when they re-opened.

“People didn’t want to go back to work,” he said. “There was trepidation.”

Wahhaj was never charged in the attack, but he came under scrutiny from federal investigators after it was learned some of the men behind it had attended his mosque.

Prosecutors believed he was somehow involved, but never had the evidence to bring charges. Some later criticized the investigation, saying its scope of suspects was too broad, the New York Times reported.

Wahhaj himself vehemently denied any involvement — but later defended some of the attackers, and called the FBI and CIA the “real terrorists.”

Allegations of involvement in the 1993 attack aside, Wahhaj has a long history of demonizing American society, and supporting people considered terrorists by many.

Mamdani didn’t reply to requests for comment on his association with Wahhaj, but for some who were at the WTC in 1993 — or had friends and family there — any relationship is unacceptable.

“These incidents are very personal to people in New York. They are our family members, our friends, our neighbors, people we care about,” said Maria Danzilo, 69, whose sister was in the North Tower the day of the ’93 attack and had to flee through a smoke-filled stairwell.

“Why trigger people like this? It seems unnecessary. Don’t you want to heal the past? Do we really want to make people so upset? It just seems like it’s not good for the city after so many terrible things have happened,” said Danzilo, who also took to X to express her anger.

“My sister was in the 1993 WTC bombing — trapped on a high floor, forced to climb down smoke-filled stairs. She suffered serious smoke inhalation and lasting trauma,” she wrote in the post, explaining that her sister fled NYC for DC in fear, only to end up a block from the Pentagon when it was attacked on 9/11.

“These weren’t abstract ‘events’ for so many New Yorkers. They were life changing events,” said Danzil, who works for the pro-Andrew Cuomo PAC Fix the City, but said her anger at Mamdani’s post with Wahhaj had nothing to do with supporting his opponent.

And Port Authority’s current Police Benevolent Association president Frank Conti can’t imagine how anybody would consider Mamdani a viable candidate after showing his own support for Wahhaj.

“Anyone who votes, supports or endorses Mamdani must suffer from a critical memory lapse of the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center,” said Conti. “What happened to the New York City mantra, ‘Never Forget’?”