Exclusive | Confusion as NYPD denies City Hall claim Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji will get police escort on Syria, Lebanon trip

The NYPD denied it’s sending any personnel to serve as security detail for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji during her upcoming Middle East trip – an awkward rejoinder to City Hall’s claim the department “strongly” recommended she be accompanied by New York City cops.

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“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” an NYPD spokesperson insisted early Tuesday.

Duwaji, 29, is visiting Lebanon and Syria — both on the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list — starting Sept. 20.

“It’s not official business. It’s not doing anything for the city,” a source with knowledge of the trip told The Post.

A source familiar with her security detail said the first lady, who Mamdani has described as a “private person,” specifically requested NYPD provide security following another overseas trip last month without police protection.

The mayor’s office made it seem like New York’s Finest accompanying Duwaji on her Middle East jaunt was a done deal.

“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.

But the department quickly shot down the notion in unambiguous terms.

“This is not an investigative trip, and therefore, NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.”

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The Post has reached out to the mayor’s office for clarification on the apparent discrepancy, but did not immediately hear back.

Former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told The Post it would be “ill-advised” for the NYPD to take on such an assignment in the first place, noting it “definitely” would put officers at risk sending them to a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” country.

He said the undertaking would be “expensive” and require significant assistance and cooperation from the federal government.

“There would be lots of hoops you’d have to go through for that kind of assignment.”

Duwaji’s voyage overlaps with the 81st United Nations General Assembly, during which NYPD resources will be stretched — exacerbated after Hizzoner urged New Yorkers to take to the streets to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the annual gathering of world leaders.

Like her husband, Duwaji is known for espousing pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel views on social media, including a 2015 post claiming Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist in the first place,” and referring to its residents as “occupiers.”

She was also caught liking several eyebrow-raising Instagram posts, including one lauding Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack against Israel, and another claiming the rapes carried out by the Iran-backed terror group against Israeli hostages were a “mass hoax.”

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