Cynthia Nixon Slammed For Airing Campaign Ad On 9/11

NEW YORK — An FDNY labor union slammed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon on Monday for airing political ads on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Nixon, the activist and actress challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Thursday's primary, launched her campaign's first TV ad on Monday. Titled "Better Democrats," the 30-second spot airing upstate focuses on Nixon's support for single-payer health care, criminal justice reform and other progressive policies.

But the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics & Inspectors called on Nixon to cancel the ads Tuesday out of respect for the 17th anniversary of 9/11, a day on which political campaigning is generally put on hold.

"If you are planning to run such commercials it would be an act of ultimate disrespect to all New Yorkers," the union representing about 4,000 FDNY members said in a message to Nixon's campaign Monday evening.

"As first responders who were first due at the World Trade Center attack with so many others that day we call upon you to respect 9/11 and to not cheapen it with political ads."

The anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people — including 343 FDNY members — on Sept. 11, 2001 happened to fall just two days before the heated primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state legislative seats.

The primary election was originally scheduled for Sept. 11, but the state lawmakers moved it back two days to avoid conflicts with the coincident anniversary and the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

Cuomo attended Tuesday morning's annual commemoration ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan. The Transport Workers Union also ran a radio ad supporting Cuomo on Tuesday.

Nixon's campaign noted the new ad is only airing upstate. Asked about the FDNY union's criticisms, campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt pointed to the controversial state Democratic Party mailer falsely accusing Nixon of being weak against anti-Semitism.

"This ad presents a hopeful vision for New York's future - in stark contrast with the appalling negative mailer that Governor Cuomo's state party dropped on the eve of Rosh Hashanah," Hitt said in a statement.

Cuomo is supported by the state Democratic Party but he reportedly denied any knowledge of the mailer.

A Siena College poll released Monday showed the incumbent two-term governor 41 percentage points ahead of Nixon.

Nixon wasn't the only statewide candidate with campaign ads running Tuesday.

An online ad for Democratic attorney general hopeful Zephyr Teachout was spotted, as were TV commercials for one of her primary rivals, Sean Patrick Maloney, and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Jumaane Williams.

(Lead image: Cynthia Nixon participates in the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on Sept. 3, 2018. Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)