The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for crossing a constitutional line by engaging in a religious observance with municipal employees while acting in his official capacity.
On Feb. 22, Mamdani posted photos and commentary on his official New York City Mayor’s X account showing him participating in suhoor with Department of Sanitation workers. The post includes an image of the mayor appearing to engage in prayer alongside city employees. Suhoor is the predawn meal Muslims consume before beginning the daily fast during Ramadan, and it is a religious observance.
FFRF has sent a letter to the mayor explaining that while public officials are free to practice their religion in their personal capacities, the Constitution prohibits government officials from promoting or participating in religious exercise in their official roles.
“When a mayor joins a religious observance with city employees in connection with their official duties, it conveys governmental alignment with a particular faith,” FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line writes. “Government officials may worship in their personal capacities. They may not use the machinery, prestige or platforms of a public office to advance or highlight religious exercise.”
FFRF’s concern is not merely regarding the social media post, but the underlying conduct itself. City employees are subordinate to elected leadership, and even nominally voluntary participation in a religious exercise can carry implicit pressure. Public employees should never be placed in a position where they may feel expected to participate in or appear supportive of a religious observance in the workplace.
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment requires governmental neutrality on matters of religion. New York City serves a religiously diverse population, including people of many faiths and those who are nonreligious. Official participation in religious observance risks alienating both employees and constituents who do not share the mayor’s beliefs.
“The fact that a religious viewpoint may represent a minority faith does not diminish the constitutional prohibition on governmental promotion of religion,” FFRF points out in its letter. “Your elected office belongs to the people of New York City, not to any particular religion.”
FFRF is urging Mayor Mamdani to refrain from engaging in religious exercises with city employees in his official capacity and to ensure that future engagements with municipal departments remain secular in nature.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 2,100 members in New York. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
