New York City’s mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Monday again found himself embroiled in a controversy after an old social media post of him flipping the bird at a statue of Christopher Columbus and calling for its removal started doing the rounds. In a June 2020 tweet, the socialist Mamdani is pictured flipping the middle finger at the towering statue located in Astoria, a neighborhood that falls within his state Assembly district.“Take it down,” said Mamdani, who was running for state assembly at the time.
The post didn’t sit well with Italian Americans in the big apple city, including the Columbus Heritage Coalition, ever since this week the post resurfaced on social platforms. Angelo Vivolo, president of Columbus Heritage Coalition, vowed not to support the lefty candidate come November.“We will defend Columbus Day and Columbus statues,” Vivolo told The New York Post.“He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community,” said Vivolo, who is the former head of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, which runs the city’s Columbus Day Parade. “If you offend one community, you offend all communities.“I don’t think he will be mayor for all the people of New York City.”The Italian Americans make up 8% of the population in the city, Mamdani has disrespected a big voting bloc, said Joseph Scelsa, founder and president of Italian American Museum.“To eliminate such a large population of people would be a travesty,” he said. “It’s not inclusive. It’s exclusionary.“Who’s to say who is a hero and who is not a hero? Columbus is our hero.”Zohran Mamdani pulled a major upset in last month’s Democratic primaries for the NYC’s mayoral candidate, when he defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.Mmadani could possibly face Cuomo again in the November general elections, as the longtime Italian American pol is considering contesting as an Independent, along with current Mayor Eric Adams, who also is planning to run again for the office but this time as an Independent. Also in the fray will be GOP’s candidate Curtis Sliwa.
