New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism from the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) after Little Italy was excluded from a city-created map of immigrant enclaves. The map, part of the NYC Neighborhood Passport campaign tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and promoted by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, aims to showcase the city's diverse communities.
The IACRL expressed outrage over the omission, stating in a post on X that Mamdani wants to "ERASE Italian Americans." The group further asserted, "Italian Americans BUILT NEW YORK CITY. Not third world Ugandans, We stand AGAINST COMMUNISTS."
According to the IACRL, this exclusion follows a denied permit for "Unity Day 2026." "Mamdani’s City Hall can find room for every fashionable progressive constituency, but somehow it cannot find Little Italy," said IACRL president Mike Crispi in a press release. "Our culture is good enough for their photo ops, our food is good enough for their fundraisers, and our neighborhoods are good enough for tourism dollars — but when it comes time to recognize Italian Americans, they erase us."
The map highlights 30 neighborhoods, including Chinatown, Little Palestine, and Little Haiti, but does not feature any Jewish or Irish enclaves. Mamdani has publicly advocated for immigrant rights and sanctuary protections, as well as Palestinian rights.
Historically, Italian immigrants played a significant role in New York City's development. Between the 1880s and 1924, approximately one-third of the over 4 million Italians who immigrated to the U.S. settled in New York City, establishing it as the city's largest immigrant community in the early 20th century, according to the Library of Congress. "Little Italy is sacred ground. It is where Italian immigrants came with nothing, worked like hell, opened shops, raised families, built churches, fed the city, and helped make New York what it is," Crispi stated.
The Italian-American community has previously voiced opposition to Mayor Mamdani, citing an incident in 2020 where he posted a photo on X of himself giving a middle finger to a Christopher Columbus statue in Queens.