New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji is planning to travel to Syria and Lebanon beginning September 20, and this time she will not be going alone. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office has confirmed that a taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail will accompany her, even though both countries sit on the State Department's Do Not Travel list, the highest risk designation the federal government issues.
A Trip With Family Ties, and a Security Detail to Match
Duwaji, a 29-year-old Syrian-American artist who describes herself as a Syrian illustrator, has personal roots in the region: her parents are Syrian Muslims originally from Damascus. As reported by the New York Post, mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec said the first lady's security detail will join her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon. The mayor's office has not offered further comment on the trip's specifics or confirmed whether visiting family is its sole purpose.
The arrangement marks a departure from how Duwaji has traveled in the past. She previously completed a two-month residency in Beirut in 2019 at Haven for Artists — a cultural organization the group describes as sitting at the intersection of art and activism — where she created and exhibited an 80-portrait series called “Face to Face” documenting Lebanese residents. That trip, and more recent ones, went unaccompanied by police protection.
Level 4 Warnings and an Absent U.S. Diplomatic Footprint
The federal government's warnings about the destinations are not new but remain severe. The U.S. Department of State maintains Level 4 Do Not Travel advisories for both countries, citing terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict. The department ordered non-emergency U.S. personnel to leave Beirut in February 2026, while U.S. embassy operations in Damascus have been suspended since 2012 — meaning standard consular protection simply does not exist on the ground in Syria.
Complicating matters further, the NYPD's Intelligence Bureau runs an International Liaison Program that posts officers in roughly 11 to 18 foreign cities to share counterterrorism intelligence, according to the NYPD's own materials on NYC.gov. The department maintains no official liaison stations in either Syria or Lebanon, leaving open questions about what local law enforcement cooperation, if any, would support the detail once it's outside the reach of established NYPD partnerships.
Political Blowback and a Familiar Ethics Precedent
Former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind was blunt in his opposition, telling the Post that he does not believe Duwaji needs security at all. Per that same report, Hikind argued the officers accompanying her would be viewed as “the bad guys” in war zones, and — invoking the region's armed factions — said she would effectively be protected by Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis once outside the detail's reach.
The question of who pays for what during mayoral family travel is not a new one in New York City politics. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to a $329,794 settlement with the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board in May 2025, according to the Norwood News, after the board found he used taxpayer-funded NYPD details for out-of-state travel without reimbursing associated expenses. A 2021 investigation by the city's Department of Investigation, separately reported by The Washington Post, found the NYPD lacked formal written procedures spelling out permissible versus impermissible uses of security details for mayoral family members — a gap that remains relevant as Duwaji's international travel draws scrutiny.
A Pattern of Travel Without Police Protection Until Now
The Syria and Lebanon trip stands in contrast to Duwaji's travel just weeks earlier. In July, she served as host and artist-in-residence at two European wellness retreats organized by The Women Sanctuary, held in Mallorca and Corsica, according to the Hindustan Times. City Hall confirmed she was not accompanied by NYPD officers on either trip. The Post reports the Mallorca stop included a sold-out “Plants of the Quran” workshop where she served as artist-in-residence, while the Corsica retreat, run by Parisian designer Rym Nur, was described in that report as a pro-Palestinian, all-female spiritual gathering.
Mamdani has consistently maintained that his wife holds no formal, salaried role at City Hall. In a July interview with Spectrum News NY1, he described her as an independent artist deserving of recognition in her own right, distinct from any official city position. That framing is central to the debate now surrounding her security: without a formal city role, questions about what qualifies as official versus personal travel — and who should fund the protection around it — remain unresolved.
Scrutiny Over Past Social Media Activity
The Post's report also revisits older social media activity that has drawn criticism. Per that reporting, Duwaji called Tel Aviv residents “occupiers” in 2015 and claimed the city should not exist, used a racial slur in a 2013 post, and liked celebratory posts following Hamas's October 7, 2023 terror attacks against Israel, as well as a post claiming rapes committed by Hamas against Israeli hostages and victims were a hoax. She apologized in April 2026 for hurt caused by what were described as alarming social media posts, though the Post's sourcing indicates she did not separately express regret for Israel-related content reviewed in that reporting. Mamdani has defended his wife amid the scrutiny and previously described her as a private person.
Duwaji has also been linked to broader progressive political organizing tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the Post notes she created artwork for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which separately launched the palestineontheballot.com campaign promoting candidates who backed the Not On Our Dime Act — legislation that would target charities supporting Israeli settler violence — and who rejected AIPAC funding in Democratic primaries. As Mamdani's Gracie Mansion tenure continues, the September trip will test how the administration balances his wife's private travel with the public cost and risk of protecting her in a war-affected region.
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