BY SAL GRECO
The story surrounding New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s upcoming “Peacemaker Award” has just developed another layer — and this one has nothing to do with political rhetoric.
It involves corporate records, federal nonprofit filings, charitable fundraising and a basic question that City Hall should be able to answer:
Who vetted the organizations attaching the mayor’s name to this event?
On Monday, October 5, the Peace Action Fund of New York State is scheduled to present its annual William Sloane Coffin Jr. Peacemaker Awards in Manhattan.
Among the announced recipients are two names that have already generated controversy:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
And the National Iranian American Council — NIAC.
Peace Action says Mamdani is being recognized “as a former student activist and voice for Palestinian rights on the national stage,” while NIAC is being honored for its “impactful advocacy against the war on Iran.” The organization says the awards ceremony is its largest fundraiser of the year, with the October 5 event scheduled at Scandinavia House at 58 Park Avenue, followed by a reception with refreshments and wine. Virtual tickets are being sold for $25, and supporters are also being asked to purchase advertising in the event journal.
City Hall has since said Mamdani will not attend the ceremony, although he remains an announced award recipient. A City Hall spokesperson offered no detailed explanation for the decision in reporting published October 2.
But SalGreco.com’s examination of the entities surrounding Monday’s fundraiser has produced a separate question:
Where are the New York corporate records?
A SEARCH THAT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION
A search conducted through the New York Department of State’s Corporation and Business Entity Database under the stated legal names Peace Action Fund of New York State Inc. and Peace Action of New York State Inc. did not produce an obvious matching corporate record under those exact names.
That result deserves attention because these aren’t organizations merely describing themselves informally as being “in New York.”
Their federal filings identify them as corporations.
The IRS recognizes Peace Action Fund of New York State Inc., EIN 01-0885806, as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Its federal records identify its domicile as New York.
Its related organization, Peace Action of New York State Inc., EIN 14-1801528, is recognized federally as a 501(c)(4), operates from New York City and likewise represents itself as a New York organization. Its federal filings go back decades.
The Department of State itself says its Corporation and Business Entity Database is intended for status inquiries concerning entities already on file, including not-for-profit corporations. The Department says those records can contain an entity’s current name, date of organization, jurisdiction, county, service-of-process address and current status, and that the online information is updated daily.
So the question is straightforward:
If Peace Action Fund of New York State Inc. reports New York as its legal domicile and describes itself as an incorporated organization, under what name and Department of State identification number does that corporation exist?
There may be a perfectly legitimate explanation.
An older corporate name may exist.
There may have been a merger, amendment or reorganization.
The entity may appear under a historical name that an exact-name search does not readily reveal.
There may be another filing explanation.
But when the sitting mayor of New York City is announced as the honoree at that organization’s largest annual fundraiser, asking for the corporate filing is hardly an unreasonable exercise.
It is basic due diligence.
THE IRS RECOGNIZES PEACE ACTION FUND — BUT THAT ISN’T THE SAME THING AS NEW YORK INCORPORATION
This distinction is crucial.
The Internal Revenue Service grants federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
The IRS does not incorporate a New York not-for-profit corporation.
New York’s Department of State handles incorporation under state law.
The Department itself notes that there is no federal mechanism to incorporate nationally; corporations are organized at the state level.
So showing that an organization has an IRS determination letter does not answer a separate state-law question concerning its corporate formation.
Peace Action Fund unquestionably has a federal tax identity.
Its EIN is 01-0885806.
Its IRS exemption dates to 2007.
Its latest publicly available Form 990 reports $218,425 in 2024 revenue, $238,994 in expenses and $226,274 in net assets. Nearly all of the organization’s reported revenue came from contributions.
That tells us what the IRS recognizes.
It does not tell us the Department of State filing number.
Peace Action should simply provide it.
AND THEN THERE IS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The corporate registry isn’t even the only state registration issue.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office oversees charitable organizations and charitable solicitation through its Charities Bureau.
The Attorney General’s current guidance states that most organizations that engage in charitable activities in New York or solicit charitable contributions in the state — including grants from foundations and government grants — are required to register with the Charities Bureau unless an exemption applies.
The Attorney General goes further, saying charitable organizations operating in New York generally must register and submit annual financial reports.
That means two different questions should not be confused.
Question one: What is the organization’s corporate status with the New York Department of State?
Question two: What is its charitable-registration status with Attorney General James’s Charities Bureau?
They are not interchangeable.
And if an organization is exempt from registration with the Charities Bureau, that too should have an identifiable legal basis.
So Attorney General James’s office should be able to answer directly:
What is the current Charities Bureau status of Peace Action Fund of New York State Inc., EIN 01-0885806?
What is the status of Peace Action of New York State Inc., EIN 14-1801528?
Registered?
Exempt?
Delinquent?
Operating under another name?
There should be an answer.
HOW DOES A SMALL NONPROFIT PAY FOR A MANHATTAN AWARDS EVENT?
Another question initially appears almost as interesting.
Peace Action Fund isn’t financially enormous.
Its 2024 revenue was only about $218,000.
Its related 501(c)(4), Peace Action of New York State, reported just $30,341 in 2024 revenue and $13,913 in net assets.
So how does an organization of that size put on an awards ceremony at a Park Avenue venue, followed by a reception with wine and refreshments?
The organization’s tax return actually provides a very good answer.
The dinner is itself a fundraising operation.
Peace Action Fund’s 2024 Schedule G specifically lists a fundraising event called:
“WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN.”
That event produced $79,159 in gross receipts.
Of that amount, $75,384 was classified as contributions.
Its reported direct expenses were $14,055.
Peace Action openly describes this year’s ceremony as its “biggest fundraiser of the year” and says the proceeds support its Campus Organizing Program.
So the financial records answer one important question.
The organization does not simply spend tens of thousands of dollars from its modest operating budget to stage a glamorous dinner.
The event raises money.
That is an important distinction, and the numbers themselves do not establish financial wrongdoing.
But they make the registration issue more important, because this is not merely an internal awards banquet.
It is an advertised charitable fundraising event taking money from supporters in New York.
THEN PUT NIAC INTO THE PICTURE
The other major award recipient is the National Iranian American Council.
NIAC is a Washington, D.C.-based organization recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3), EIN 73-1626026.
NIAC has been deeply involved in American policy debates involving Iran for more than two decades.
Its critics have repeatedly accused it of advancing policies beneficial to the Iranian government.
NIAC strongly rejects accusations that it represents Tehran and states that it receives no money from either the Iranian or United States governments.
No public court judgment reviewed for this article establishes that NIAC is an agent of the Iranian government.
But NIAC’s history does include a documented federal court episode that should not be ignored.
THE $183,480 FEDERAL COURT SANCTIONS
NIAC and its former president, Trita Parsi, previously sued writer Seid Hassan Daioleslam for defamation concerning allegations about NIAC’s relationship with Iran.
During discovery, things went badly for NIAC and Parsi.
A federal district judge ultimately awarded $183,480.09 in sanctions for attorney fees and expenses arising from discovery conduct.
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit later upheld most of that sanction.
The appellate court described what it called a “disturbing pattern of delay and intransigence” and said NIAC and Parsi delayed production, withheld documents, denied the existence of documents, made misrepresentations concerning records and violated multiple court orders.
Those are judicial findings, not political commentary.
But another distinction is equally important.
The lawsuit did not end with a judicial declaration that NIAC was an agent of Iran.
The sanctions involved discovery misconduct.
Those are different issues.
NIAC ALSO HAS A 501(c)(4)
NIAC does not operate alone.
Its related organization NIAC Action, EIN 47-3979683, operates under section 501(c)(4).
NIAC’s own Schedule R identifies NIAC Action as a related tax-exempt organization legally domiciled in Maryland.
According to NIAC’s previously reviewed filing, the organizations also reported $245,176 associated with sharing paid employees between the entities.
Sharing employees between a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) is not inherently illegal.
But proper allocation matters because the two entities operate under substantially different rules concerning lobbying and political activity.
And NIAC Action has recently become directly relevant to President Donald Trump.
THREE DAYS AFTER TRUMP MET MAMDANI, NIAC ACTION SUED TRUMP
On September 21, President Trump met Mayor Mamdani at Gracie Mansion.
The political relationship between the two men has become extraordinary in its own right.
During the mayoral campaign Trump had called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic.”
The men represented themselves publicly as ideological opposites.
Then Mamdani won.
The relationship changed.
They began meeting.
Trump began publicly praising him.
Mamdani has even acknowledged that the two men sometimes text each other, including concerning housing.
At Gracie Mansion, one of the major subjects was Mamdani’s proposal for Sunnyside Yard, a massive housing plan that City Hall says would require a federal partnership and potentially more than $21 billion in federal grants to construct a platform capable of supporting roughly 12,000 homes. Mamdani himself has said federal involvement is indispensable to the proposal.
No $21 billion federal award has been made.
No evidence has emerged proving any improper agreement between Trump and Mamdani.
But then came September 24.
Three days after the Gracie Mansion meeting, NIAC Action sued Trump.
NIAC Action’s lawsuit challenges Trump’s continuing military campaign against Iran, arguing that the president is conducting an unconstitutional war without congressional authorization.
And the organization affiliated with NIAC — which is receiving Monday’s Peacemaker Award alongside Mamdani — was now fighting the Trump administration in federal court.
THEN MAMDANI GOT HIS SECURITY CLEARANCE
Another development followed.
For much of Mamdani’s first year as mayor, he had been awaiting federal security clearance necessary to participate fully in classified national-security and terrorism briefings.
Then, days after the Gracie Mansion meeting with Trump, the clearance arrived.
Mamdani announced on September 30 that he had finally received it.
There is no public evidence that Trump ordered Mamdani’s clearance approved.
There is no evidence that Sunnyside Yard money was exchanged for a clearance.
There is no evidence of a quid pro quo.
A background investigation can simply finish when it finishes.
But the timing creates legitimate questions that can be answered factually.
Was the pending clearance discussed at Gracie Mansion?
Did City Hall raise it with the White House?
Did anybody in the Trump administration communicate with federal investigators concerning its status?
Or had the clearance simply reached the end of an ordinary months-long process?
Those answers have not been established publicly.
AND NOW THE MAYOR IS BEING HONORED ALONGSIDE NIAC
Two weeks later, Mamdani remains scheduled to receive an award from Peace Action Fund alongside NIAC.
Again, the timing must be represented accurately.
The awards were not created after the Trump meeting.
Peace Action publicly announced Mamdani and NIAC as its 2026 recipients on July 6, months before the September Gracie Mansion meeting.
That matters.
What has changed is everything that happened afterward.
A cordial Trump-Mamdani relationship.
A proposed $21 billion federal-city housing partnership.
NIAC Action suing Trump over Iran.
Mamdani receiving his long-awaited federal security clearance.
NIAC preparing to receive an award alongside Mamdani.
And now questions concerning the New York corporate and charitable-registration records of the organization presenting those awards.
That is a remarkable political and nonprofit paper trail.
WHAT ABOUT NIAC’S NEW YORK REGISTRATION?
NIAC and NIAC Action present a somewhat different Department of State issue from Peace Action because their federal filings identify them as domiciled outside New York.
Their absence from the New York corporate database, by itself, would therefore not automatically establish a violation.
New York’s legal requirements for a foreign nonprofit can depend upon the nature and extent of its activities in the state.
But charitable fundraising is another matter.
Attorney General James’s office says most organizations that solicit charitable contributions in New York must register with the Charities Bureau unless an exemption applies.
NIAC actively solicits donations.
It is also being promoted as a recipient at a New York charitable fundraising event.
So the proper questions are:
Is NIAC registered to solicit charitable funds in New York?
If not, what exemption applies?
What is NIAC Action’s status?
Those questions should be directed to the Attorney General’s office and the organizations themselves.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION MAY BE THE SIMPLEST: DID CITY HALL CHECK?
And this brings everything back to Mayor Mamdani.
He isn’t simply a private activist receiving an award.
He is the sitting mayor of New York City.
His name and title have been advertised by the organizer to promote the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year.
So what vetting occurred?
Did City Hall request Peace Action Fund’s incorporation records?
Did anybody search the Department of State database?
Did anyone verify its Department of State identification number?
Did anyone check the organization’s status with Attorney General James’s Charities Bureau?
Did anybody review its Form 990?
Did they review the status of its affiliated 501(c)(4)?
Did they examine NIAC and NIAC Action?
Did City Hall know about NIAC’s federal court sanctions?
Did it know that NIAC Action had just sued the Trump administration?
And when, exactly, did City Hall decide that Mamdani would not attend the October 5 ceremony?
The public record reviewed for this article does not answer those questions.
That does not establish that City Hall performed no vetting.
It means City Hall should explain what vetting it did.
AND ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES SHOULD BE ABLE TO CLEAR UP THE REST
Attorney General Letitia James’s office says its Charities Bureau regulates nonprofits and fundraisers, protects donors and oversees the use of charitable money in New York.
So there is no need for speculation about the charitable-registration issue.
The state regulator can answer it.
For each organization, the question can be reduced to an EIN:
Peace Action Fund of New York State Inc. — 01-0885806
Peace Action of New York State Inc. — 14-1801528
National Iranian American Council — 73-1626026
NIAC Action — 47-3979683
What is each entity’s current status under New York law?
If registered, produce the registration.
If exempt, identify the exemption.
For the two Peace Action entities presenting themselves as New York corporations, what are their Department of State entity numbers and legal filing names?
There may be ordinary answers to all of this.
If so, publish them.
THIS IS WHERE INVESTIGATION SHOULD BEGIN — NOT WHERE A CONVICTION SHOULD BE DECLARED
An unsuccessful database search is not a criminal conviction.
It does not establish fraud.
It does not establish that anyone stole money.
It does not establish that Mamdani knowingly participated in anything unlawful.
And the available records do not presently establish that these organizations are committing crimes.
But neither should obvious documentary discrepancies simply be dismissed because the organizations possess IRS tax-exempt status.
A federal 501(c)(3) determination is not a New York incorporation record.
A Form 990 is not a Department of State certificate.
And neither automatically answers the separate Charities Bureau registration question.
That is precisely why records exist.
If Peace Action Fund is a properly constituted New York corporation, its corporate identity should be documentable.
If it is properly registered or exempt to solicit charitable money, that should also be documentable.
If NIAC and NIAC Action are properly registered or exempt in New York, the Attorney General’s office can confirm that.
And if City Hall properly vetted the organization before allowing New York’s mayor to be advertised as one of the star recipients at its largest fundraiser, the mayor’s office should be able to explain the process.
That is the story now.
Not an accusation masquerading as a conclusion.
A paper trail that needs completing.
Because the political backdrop is already unusual enough:
Trump and Mamdani went from vicious campaign rhetoric to meetings and text messages.
A $21 billion housing proposal requiring Washington’s help sits on the table.
Mamdani’s federal security clearance arrived days after another friendly meeting with Trump.
NIAC Action sued Trump over Iran three days after that meeting.
NIAC and Mamdani are about to receive awards at the same New York fundraiser.
And the organization issuing those awards now faces a very basic question about what exact New York corporate record corresponds to the legal identity it reports to the federal government.
For Mayor Mamdani, Attorney General James, Peace Action and NIAC, none of these questions requires rhetoric to answer.
They require documents.
So produce them.