Mamma Mia, they are mad!
Local Italian-Americans are asking “What’s a’matter witchu, Mamdani?” after the mayor skipped Manhattan’s Columbus Day Parade festivities on Monday — but they didn’t let Hizzoner’s “disgrazia” dampen their day.
The democratic socialist mayor was a no-show but numerous other local politicians marched down Fifth Avenue, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and City Council Speaker Julie Menin, a Democrat fresh off serving as grand marshaled for Brooklyn’s Columbus parade on Saturday.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, who has tied Hochul to Mamdani called him the city’s “most divisive mayor.”
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman marching in the Columbus Day Parade in Manhattan on Oct. 12, 2026. Stephen Yang for NY Post
“I think that’s an affront to Italian Americans,” Blakeman told The Post. “The fact is that he is a very divisive guy. He’s got people at each other’s throats. As an elected official, you’re supposed to make people happy, bring them together.”
Proud Italian American Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the vigilante group the Guardian Angels, didn’t take kindly to the mayor’s no-show either.
“We have a word for that in the streets. It’s disgrazia,” said Sliwa, who ran for mayor as a Republican against Mamdani in 2025.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declined to attend Monday’s Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Ave. Stephen Yang for NY Post
“He has said basically uffa to the Italian Americans and that is disgrazia,” Sliwa told The Post. “We say, ‘Uffa!’”
Sliwa wasn’t the only Italian-American fuming about the mayor during the party along Fifth, where thousands lined the streets to watch descendants of the boot march in the commemoration of the Italian explorer.
“It’s very disrespectful,” 33-year-old Brooklynite Mike Gullo said, calling the mayor’s move “insulting” to Italian Americans.
“You can ask anyone here and they would say the same,” Gullo added. “It’s very sad. He should be here, he represents this city.”
Word of Mamdani’s parade snub broke Sunday but came as no surprise — the lefty mayor has long reviled the iconic Italian explorer, dismissing him as a violent colonizer for his violent treatment of natives.
Paradegoers lining Fifth Avenue with their Italian flags. Matthew McDermott for NY Post
Children marching in the Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 12, 2026. Getty Images
The annual Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Ave. draws Italian-Americans from across New York City and beyond. Stephen Yang for NY Post
An attendee holding up a “Fire Mamdani” sign at the Columbus Day Parade. Stephen Yang for NY Post
And the mayor has given little quarter to the role Columbus historically played in the hearts and minds of Italian-Americans, who revere him as one of the greats of American history for “discovering” the New World with his famous 1492 voyage that brought the continent into contact with the rest of the world.
Mamdani has long focused on the darker sides of Columbus’ story, joining leftist calls to eradicate monuments to the Italian of all kinds — notoriously posting “Take it down” alongside a photo of him giving the middle finger to a Queens statue of Columbus in 2020.
It was behavior like that which left some parade-goers grateful Hizzoner decided to skip.
“It’s better that he’s not here,” 60-year-old Woodsider Anne Marie said. “It probably would have been controversial. Nobody wants to look at his face.
Gov. Kathy Hochul shaking hands with paradegoers on Monday. Stephen Yang for NY Post
NYPD officers gathered on Fifth Ave. ahead of the Columbus Day Parade on Monday. Stephen Yang for NY Post
A Columbus impersonator marching in the parade. Matthew McDermott for NY Post
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the former Archbishop of New York, attending the parade. Matthew McDermott for NY Post
“I think it’s horrible,” she added. “I’m not surprised he’s not here.”
“I’m happy,” 79-year-old Camile Staffe said of Mamdani’s absence. “It’s about the Italians.”
“Italy doesn’t get enough credit, but we contribute to America. They try to make it about indigenous people. It’s not fair,” she added. “My grandfather helped build the Empire State Building.”
Mamdani’s attitude towards Columbus wasn’t the only reason Italian-American New Yorkers are raising their eyebrows at him — a July administration map of the Big Apple’s “Immigrant Enclaves” mentioned the likes of Little Yemen, Little Pakistan and Koreatown, yet failed to note Little Italy.
That’s despite Little Italy being one of New York’s single most iconic immigrant neighborhoods, known and renowned the world over.
A group of women dressed as Roman statues for the parade. Matthew McDermott for NY Post
“Leaving little Italy off the map, he’s definitely against the Italian people,” said paradegoer Anne Marie from along the route. “He’s trying to make them irrelevant. That’s not going to happen.”
Iconic Italian-American actor Chazz Palminteri — known for his roles in “A Bronx Tale” and “The Usual Suspects” — was still fired up about the map fiasco, saying: “I can’t believe they did that by accident.”
“You left us off the map. How can you leave out Little Italy?” Palminteri told The Post in a phone interview. “It’s our day to celebrate.”
An Italian-Amercian showing off his festive T-shirt. Stephen Yang for NY Post
Former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa marching with the Federation of Italian American Societies of New Jersey in the parade. GC Images
But paradegoers didn’t let Mamdani spoil their Monday sauce — with most brushing him off to focus on each other and their day.
“I like to come to support my heritage, my parents are from Sicily,” said Michael Arminio of Queens, who brought his 8-year-old daughter to the parade.
Esterina Sanelli came out bedecked in red and green to watch her son march in the parade with the FDNY — and explained she never misses a Columbus Day parade.
“I feel my father came here and contributed to the community, this is a way to honor him,” Sanelli said.
New Yorker Giovanna Moriello, who comes to the parade with her family every year, said Columbus Day is a holiday “worth fighting for.”
“My mother has been taking me since I was very small, it’s kind of an annual tradition,” Moriello said. “Columbus was a great explorer and people deserve to know about and celebrate him.”
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile