New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come under renewed criticism from Italian-American leaders after missing the city’s annual Columbus Day celebrations, reviving controversy over his past criticism of Christopher Columbus and a municipal map that omitted the city’s Little Italy neighbourhoods.
The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist did not attend the weekend festivities or Monday’s Manhattan parade, despite organisers extending a personal invitation.
His absence has drawn criticism from community representatives who say the mayor has yet to address concerns over his treatment of their heritage.
Mamdani’s Columbus Day Absence Draws Criticism
The annual Columbus Day parade, which takes place along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, celebrates Italian-American heritage and commemorates Christopher Columbus’s 1492 arrival in the Americas.
Mamdani’s spokeswoman confirmed to The New York Times that the mayor would not attend Monday’s event, following his absence from celebrations held across New York City’s five boroughs over the weekend.
His decision has reignited scrutiny of his views on Columbus, whom some progressive politicians and activists describe as a coloniser associated with the enslavement and mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.
In 2020, Mamdani publicly expressed his opposition to a statue of the explorer by sharing an image of himself raising his middle finger towards it.
He accompanied the photograph with the words “take it down.”
The image has remained a point of contention among Italian-American representatives who regard Columbus Day as an important part of their community’s cultural traditions.
Little Italy Omission Adds to the Dispute
The disagreement follows another controversy involving the mayor and Italian-American heritage.
During the summer, New York City released a map titled New York City Immigrant Enclaves that omitted Little Italy neighbourhoods in both Manhattan and the Bronx.
The City Council’s Italian Caucus criticised the omission, describing the map as “incomplete and insulting” and accusing the administration of erasing part of the city’s Italian-American culture.
Mamdani acknowledged the criticism and said the map was not intended to provide a comprehensive list of the city’s ethnic communities.
“It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic enclaves,” he told reporters.
He added that further changes would be made, including the addition of Little Italy.
Mayor Celebrates Italian Heritage Without Mentioning Columbus
Although he did not attend the parade, Mamdani released a video marking Italian American Heritage Month, which is observed throughout October.
In the video, he praised Italian immigrants and their contributions to New York, declaring: “Italian American history is New York City history.”
The message did not mention Columbus, a decision that drew criticism from Mike Crispi, head of the Italian American Civil Rights League.
Crispi accused the mayor of attempting to appeal to Italian-American residents through social media messaging while failing to apologise for his earlier gesture towards the explorer’s statue.
“Zohran Mamdani thinks Italian Americans are stupid enough to be won over by a slick social media video and a few rehearsed compliments about our ancestors,” Crispi said in a statement.
He added that the mayor had never apologised for the incident or what Crispi described as disrespect towards the community.
“He wants to celebrate Italian Americans only when he can redefine our history through his own socialist ideology. We reject that completely,” he said.
Parade Organisers Had Invited the Mayor
The Columbus Citizens Foundation, which organises Manhattan’s large-scale parade, had contacted Mamdani in the hope of establishing a relationship with his administration.
Foundation president Christopher Loiacono told the New York Post last month that organisers had extended an invitation to the mayor.
However, Crispi criticised the organisers for attempting to accommodate Mamdani, arguing that the invitation did not resolve the underlying disagreement.
“Mamdani has embarrassed the very people who bent over backward to accommodate him,” he said.
“Mamdani skipping the parade changes absolutely nothing. Even if he showed up he would still owe Italian Americans an apology.”
City Council Member Joan Ariola also addressed the controversy, saying she had supported calls for the mayor to stay away from Columbus Day celebrations.
“Why would he want to be there? To get pictures?” Ariola said.
“We will never forget the picture of him giving the statue of Christopher Columbus the middle finger.”
Mayor Previously Pledged to Prioritise City Government
Mamdani’s absence from the celebrations is consistent with a position he expressed during a mayoral debate last year.
At the time, he said he would not attend certain parades because he intended to concentrate on the responsibilities of leading the city.
“There are many parades that I would not be attending because I’d be focusing on the work of leading the city,” he said.
However, according to The New York Times, Mamdani has attended other cultural celebrations during his time in public life, including events marking St Patrick’s Day, Lunar New Year and festivities associated with West Indian, Ecuadorian, LGBTQ, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Sikh communities.
Last month, he was appointed honorary grand marshal of the West Indian American Day Parade.
He has also appeared at Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
His participation in these events has featured in the debate surrounding his decision not to attend the Columbus Day parade.
Gracie Mansion to Host Italian-American Reception
Despite the dispute, Mamdani’s spokeswoman told The New York Times that the mayor plans to host an Italian-American heritage reception at Gracie Mansion in the coming weeks.
The proposed gathering would take place at the mayor’s official residence, following his decision to mark Italian American Heritage Month through a video rather than by attending the Fifth Avenue parade.
Mamdani also used a social media post on October 10 to recognise the heritage month, writing: “Happy Italian Heritage Month, New York.”
The post referred to Vito Marcantonio, the former New York congressman, and his vision of a government that works for working people, but did not address the controversy surrounding Columbus.
