Mayor Zohran Mamdani managed to unite Italians, Irish and Jewish New Yorkers this week — not with a policy proposal, but with an official City Hall map that critics say erased some of the city’s most recognizable immigrant neighborhoods.
The map, titled “New York City Immigrant Enclaves,” showcases 30 communities across the five boroughs, including Little Palestine, Little Pakistan, Little Yemen, Little Guyana, Little Mexico and Manhattan’s Koreatown.
Missing from the list, however, are places many New Yorkers consider synonymous with the city’s immigrant story: Little Italy, the Irish strongholds of Woodlawn and Sunnyside, and Brooklyn’s Borough Park, home to one of the world’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities outside Israel.
The omissions quickly triggered a bipartisan chorus of criticism from elected officials, community leaders and even longtime Democratic operatives, who questioned how neighborhoods that helped define New York’s identity failed to make the cut.
“No Italians. … Give me a break,” one critic wrote on X.
Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola said City Hall somehow found room for dozens of newer immigrant communities while overlooking one of the city’s oldest and most recognizable ethnic enclaves.
“They were able to get a Little Bhod-Tibet in there, but what about the original ‘Little neighborhood,’ Little Italy?” Ariola told the New York 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 omission “a terrible mistake” and said recognizing one immigrant community should never come at the expense of another.
“To respect one is to respect all,” Scelsa 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.”
Former New York City Council chief of staff Kevin McCabe also questioned why neighborhoods with deep Irish roots were absent.
“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 told the New York 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 pointed to Borough Park’s omission, arguing that one of the nation’s best-known Orthodox Jewish communities was also left out despite the map’s stated goal of highlighting New York’s immigrant enclaves.
The map appears to have been released in May, but only recently began drawing widespread attention online. City Hall has not publicly explained why several of New York’s most historically significant immigrant neighborhoods were excluded, leaving critics to wonder how the city celebrated its immigrant heritage while, in their view, overlooking some of the communities that helped build it.
More over at The New York Post:
Mayor Mamdani's map of NYC immigrant neighborhoods sparks outrage for ignoring Little Italy: 'Terrible mistake' https://t.co/dR97RS7CPz pic.twitter.com/dKvqap5K2a
— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2026
