![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763092312_858_salgado_mamdani_post.jpg\")
Assistant commissioner of outreach at the Mayor\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Erick Salgado posted an Islamophobic image to his Facebook page. Credit: Screengrab via Facebook<\/p>\nOn the eve of Zohran Mamdani\u2019s election, an assistant commissioner of the Mayor\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs joined a wave of commenters smearing the young Muslim candidate as a terror sympathizer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNever forget,\u201d read a meme Erick Salgado posted on his personal Facebook page, the words superimposed over a photo of the Twin Towers exploding on Sept. 11, 2001. To the right of that, the words, \u201cWe forgot\u201d were superimposed over Mamdani\u2019s face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Below that, Salgado, who is paid $120,000 a year to be a liaison to immigrant communities, wrote: \u201cThis man must not win with Christian votes,\u201d according to a screenshot of the post shared with THE CITY.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Assistant commissioner of outreach at the Mayor\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Erick Salgado posted an Islamophobic image to his Facebook page. Credit: Screengrab via Facebook<\/p>\n
Salgado did not return requests for comment this week about the post, which has apparently been deleted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A source familiar with the situation said MOIA Commissioner Manuel Castro flagged the post for City Hall shortly after the election and recommended that Salgado be fired. He remains employed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked about the remarks, Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said they \u201chave been made aware of the situation and are actively investigating the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe condemn this social media post by a member of MOIA\u2019s staff,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis type of language undermines our commitment to ensuring every New Yorker is treated with respect and dignity, and we have zero tolerance for hateful rhetoric of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaina Coronel, a spokesperson for MOIA, said, \u201cCommissioner Castro condemns in the strongest possible terms the offensive and hurtful social media post by a member of MOIA\u2019s staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should absolutely be no room for Islamophobia in our city and much less in our city government,\u201d Coronel said. \u201cThese kinds of action undermines our commitment to ensure that every New Yorker is treated with respect and dignity, with no exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mayor\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs, created in 2001 by a voter referendum, helps set policy for the city\u2019s more than 3 million immigrants.<\/p>\n
While the U.S. Census does not track religion, more than 200,000 foreign born residents who live in New York City hail from Muslim-majority nations, according to the latest census estimates<\/a>.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Mamdani, who will become the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor when he takes office in January, didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment right away.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The pastor of the Iglesia Jovenes Cristianos church in Brooklyn, Salgado had long espoused anti-LGBTQ views, including organizing a Bronx rally against same-sex marriage in 2011. When he ran a longshot mayoral campaign in 2013<\/a>, he was endorsed by the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-same-sex marriage group. <\/p>\n Although he claimed to have \u201cevolved\u201d in 2022 when Adams appointed him to MOIA, his selection was widely condemned by LGBT officials<\/a> and allies at the time.<\/p>\n The Facebook post wasn\u2019t the first time Salgado had posted remarks alluding to Mamdani\u2019s religion. Before Adams dropped out of the race, Salgado urged his Facebook followers to support Adams as \u201ca friend of Christians\u201d and warned that \u201cthe enemies of the Church are preparing to elect an Ultra Socialist Mayor with a faith totally opposite to ours.\u201d Those posts still appear on his Facebook feed.<\/p>\n