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.
(For tourists visiting NYC I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is to visit Little Bhod-Tibet!)
The Mayor’s map of New York City’s immigrant neighborhoods.
(I expected Little Hamas to be next under Little Haiti)
“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.
Kevin McCabe, a former City Council chief of staff, said the map shamefully leaves out generations of folks hailing from The Emerald Isle.
“I guess they never heard of Woodlawn or Sunnyside but that’s OK, the Irish are everywhere, the way it’s supposed to be,” McCabe, an original Working Families Party operative, told The Post.
“The British Empire at the height of its powers couldn’t cancel the Irish, I’m not too worried about a couple of ill-informed bureaucrats.”
Others slammed Mamdani for ignoring neighborhoods such as Brooklyn’s Borough Park, which is home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities outside of Israel.
Mamdani came under fire for leaving out Italian, Irish and Jewish immigrants.
“The Mayor’s Office made a map of NYC’s immigrant enclaves: Little Africa, Little Poland, Little Palestine. But they just couldn’t figure out how to represent 11% of the city. Couldn’t decipher where the Jews are from,” writer Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt fumed on X.
“Huge riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
State Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, who represents heavily Orthodox Jewish southern Brooklyn, said it’s not the first time Hizzoner has tried to “erase” the Jews.
“Mr. Mamdani’s erasing Jews is an essential part of his brand. No surprise,” Yeger said.
BTW...Never understood this. One’s a Jew and the other wants all Jews dead.
In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said the map wasn’t designed to highlight religious enclaves in the Big Apple, adding it instead “highlights neighborhoods in New York City that have substantial foreign-born populations from regions and countries around the world.”
“It does not highlight religious groups,” the spokesperson told The Post.
Islam's not a religion?
“Little Odessa, which is featured in the map, has a substantial Jewish population.”
The guide is designed for tourists to experience some of the vibrant cultures in New York City, but is not considered a full list of “all of the rich diversity across the city,” the spokesperson added.
In other words we got caught.
