Zohran Mamdani will not march in Monday’s Manhattan Columbus Day parade, The Post has learned.
The boycott lands amid mounting tension between the mayor and Italian-American civic groups, who say the snub fits a pattern of disregard for a community they say helped build New York City. Angelo Vivolo, chairman of the Columbus Heritage Coalition, which represents more than 50 Italian-American organizations, fired back at the decision.
“He’s disrespectful to the Italian-American community and not coming to the Columbus Day parade confirms it,” Vivolo said. “We know he hates Columbus. But the parade celebrates the rich culture and heritage of Italian-Americans.”
Mamdani, a staunch critic of Israel who has accused the Jewish state of genocide, also boycotted the Israel Day parade in May. The parallel refusals have drawn fresh scrutiny to how the new mayor navigates ethnic and religious celebrations.
The mayor’s hostility toward the explorer is not new. In a June 2020 social media post, Mamdani gave the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus in Astoria, Queens, with a blunt caption: “Take it down.”
That post resurfaced as Italian-American leaders connected the dots between his past rhetoric and present scheduling. Mamdani has repeatedly condemned Columbus as a colonist who abused and displaced Native Americans, framing the holiday as a celebration of violence rather than heritage.
The mayor further inflamed tensions earlier this year when his office released an ethnic enclave map highlighting little-known communities across the five boroughs. The graphic omitted Little Italy in Manhattan and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, two of the most visible Italian-American neighborhoods in the city.
The map slip-up struck many as symbolic of a broader invisibility. Italian-American civic leaders said it downplayed a community whose laborers, artisans and politicians shaped the city’s infrastructure and political culture for generations.
Mamdani did attempt outreach of a different sort. He issued a nearly three-minute video statement celebrating Italian Heritage Month, paying tribute to Italian immigrants who helped construct the city and honoring East Harlem Rep. Vito Marcantonio, who championed Social Security, unemployment benefits and civil rights.
The video tribute did little to soften the blow of the parade boycott. Vivolo and other coalition members viewed it as performative offset, a gesture that could not substitute for physical presence on Fifth Avenue.
The Columbus Day parade draws thousands of marchers and spectators each October, with politicians of both parties traditionally jostling for visible placement. Mamdani’s absence will leave a notable gap in the reviewing stand, one that Italian-American organizers say speaks louder than any Heritage Month proclamation.