Democrat socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has spurred outrage among Irish and Italian Americans after releasing a map of New York City’s immigrant enclaves that excluded the city’s historic Little Italy and Little Ireland neighborhoods.
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The NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs reportedly released the map of the Big Apple’s five boroughs in May, pinpointing 30 ethnic neighborhoods and the subway lines that serve each one.
Among the neighborhoods included on the map are Little Yemen, Little Palestine, Little Guyana, Little Pakistan, Little Bangladesh, Little Bhod-Tibet, Little Egypt and Little Africa.
But conspicuously missing from the print are two of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods, Little Italy, and Little Ireland. Also missing from the map are any Jewish enclaves.
Social media erupted in fury Wednesday night.
In a post on X, the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) accused Mamdani of wanting to “ERASE Italian Americans.”
“First, he denied our permit for Unity Day 2026. Now, he is excluding Little Italy as a recognized location all together on the map,” the group stated. “Italian Americans BUILT NEW YORK CITY. Not third world Ugandans. We stand AGAINST COMMUNISTS!”
Full statement below:
Mike Crispi, the president of the IACRL, posted a separate comment on X, calling Mamdani “a DISGRACE” who “has shown repeated, clear, racism against Italian Americans.”
Last month, the city refused to give The IACRL a permit to hold a “Unity Day” rally and now we see this. He wishes to see the complete abolition of Little Italy and our culture in NYC. Why? Because we BUILT the city through hard work and assimilation. WE stand for everything Zohran hates and that’s why he is attempting to erase us. F YOU ZOHRAN!
The map was reportedly designed to help tourists explore the Big Apple’s numerous cultural communities, but a City Hall spokesman admitted to the New York Post that it was not a complete list of “all the rich diversity across the city.”
California Republican Spencer Pratt, who recently lost his bid for mayor of Los Angeles, stated on X that the omissions were no mistake.
“Leaving out the Italian, Jewish, and Irish enclaves in NYC is like leaving out Mexican and Persian enclaves in LA, Pratt wrote.
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“It’s not an “oopsie!” This is deliberate subversion,” he continued. “The communist must erase your history so he can demolish your home and make it his own.”
Joseph Scelsa, founder of the Italian-American Museum on Mulberry Street, gave Mamdani the benefit of doubt, calling the exclusion of Little Italy a “terrible mistake.”
“Italian-Americans are still a major population in New York City. To not recognize where Italian-Americans came from and settled is a terrible mistake,” Scelsa stated. “I don’t understand why Little Italy isn’t included. I hope it’s an oversight.”
The current social media firestorm isn’t the first time Mamdani has been accused of Italian-American hate.
Last summer, an old tweet from the Ugandan Marxist resurfaced, revealing that he had once displayed profound disrespect for Christopher Columbus and called for his statues to be torn down.
In the midst of the “summer of love”—the woke frenzy that roiled most of 2020—Mamdani posted a picture of himself giving a Columbus statue the middle finger with the message: “Take it down.”
The Columbus Heritage Coalition, which includes 40 Italian-American groups, released a scathing statement denouncing Mamdani.
“By now it should be obvious to all people of good will that Italian-Americans have zero tolerance for hate,” said Angelo Vivolo, president of the coalition. “So why does the Democratic candidate for mayor hate us and our heritage?
Vivolo added: “These are symbols that hold deep meaning for many, especially within the Italian-American community,” he went on. “His divisive rhetoric and polarizing ideology threaten to deepen the fractures in our city at a time when unity and pragmatic leadership are desperately needed.”
Conservative activist and writer Christopher Rufo accused Mamdani of having “a seething hatred for Italians,” writing on X that “hatred of Italians is the hatred of beauty, culture, exploration, and genius—which is unbearable for many DSA dirtbags.”
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