Mayor Zohran Mamdani caught some Italian heat Wednesday after releasing a map of the Big Apple’s ethnic enclaves that includes places like Little Palestine — but ignores historic Little Italy and other notable Irish and Jewish immigrant nabes.
The map, titled “New York City Immigrant Enclaves,” highlights 30 areas across the five boroughs, ranging from Koreatown in Manhattan to Little Pakistan in Brooklyn and Little Yemen in The Bronx.
But critics were quick to roast the socialist mayor for overlooking the city’s very own “original Little” — a nationally recognized historic district that brought you everything from meatballs to the mafia.
“No italians. … Give me a break,” one observer fumed on X Wednesday.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) said snubbing Little Italy, which was established in the late 19th century, was a major flub.
“They were able to get a Little Bhod-Tibet in there, but what about the original ‘Little neighborhood,’ Little Italy?” Ariola told The Post.
“And what about areas like Woodlawn, in the Bronx, which are home to plenty of Irish immigrants? Do the Irish and Italians not count for the Mayor’s office?”
Joseph Scelsa, founder of the Italian-American Museum on Mulberry Street, called the exclusion of Italian-American enclaves a “terrible mistake.”
“To respect one is to respect all,” he said.
“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. I don’t understand why Little Italy isn’t included. I hope it’s an oversight.”
The map, which appears to have been released in May, also includes Little Guyana in Queens, Little Mexico in Staten Island and Little Dominican Republic in Manhattan. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Noam Galai/Getty Images |
IACRL says Mamdani found room for Little Palestine and Little Haiti but excluded the historic Manhattan enclave
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire from an Italian American heritage group after Little Italy was left off a city immigrant-neighborhood map tied to a World Cup tourism campaign — an omission critics called an insult to one of the communities that helped build New York.
"Zohran Mamdani wants 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," wrote the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) on X along with a press release.
"Italian Americans BUILT NEW YORK CITY. Not third world Ugandans, We stand AGAINST COMMUNISTS," the group added.
The map, titled "New York City Immigrant Enclaves," is being promoted as part of its NYC Neighborhood Passport campaign tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has shared the neighborhood map at pop-up booths across the city.
The New York City Tourism + Conventions, which promotes the graphic on its website, told Fox News Digital later on Thursday that the "immigrant enclave map" was created by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in 2023.
Former Mayor Eric Adams’ spokesperson Fabien Levy told Fox News Digital later Thursday that he had never seen the map before and did not remember it being used. --->READ MORE HERE
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