![\"Mayor-elect](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251111-brown-mamdani-veterans-1.jpg\")
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Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani served lunch to veterans in Parkchester Tuesday instead of attending the official veterans day parade, sparking a debate about what it means to truly support veterans and whether his absence was a snub or a sign of deeper commitment. <\/p>\n
Photo: Sadie Brown<\/p>\n
Around two dozen veterans gathered for games and lunch with the city\u2019s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, Tuesday at the Commonwealth Veterans Residence in Parkchester.\n<\/p>\n
The Mayor-elect\u2019s choice to forego the popular Veterans Day Parade down Fifth Avenue<\/a> in Manhattan in favor of spending the holiday with veterans in the Bronx sparked criticism from conservative media, with the New York Post dubbing him \u201canti-parade.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But Bronx veterans were surprised and pleased with Mamdani\u2019s visit Tuesday, telling the Bronx Times that the soon-to-be mayor was receptive and listened to their thoughts. \u201c\u200aI was surprised that he would come here to actually meet constituents from the city,\u201d said Corporal Mike Lampon, who served in the United States Marines. \u201cI would expect him to go to Manhattan, or maybe even Brooklyn, but not to the Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor-elect Mamdani dished out pasta, green beans, chicken and mashed potatoes with the Volunteers of America Greater New York before joining Bronx veterans to hear from them about the challenges they\u2019re facing and what they want to see from the new administration. Before lunch, Mamdani promised that his administration would help veterans.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI\u2019m here to wish you a happy Veteran\u2019s Day,<\/a> to thank you for your service and also to say that the days of thanking you today and forgetting you tomorrow have to come to an end,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s lunch in the Bronx breaks the norm of elected mayors marching in the Veterans Day Parade along with their outgoing predecessors, but when asked why he chose to sit out the parade and whether it was a statement of some sort, Mamdani didn\u2019t appear concerned with the optics.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to be honest with you, I haven\u2019t thought all that much about parades,\u201d Mamdani said to press outside the lunch. \u201cI wanted to ensure that on Veteran\u2019s Day, I actually got the time to sit down with veterans and hear from them. Some of the stories that I heard from men who have served this country and given everything they could to protect this nation is that they have often been left behind and forgotten by this same nation, by this same city.\u201d<\/p>\n After serving lunch, the mayor-elect went from table to table, speaking with the former service men about housing and access to nutritional assistance. One veteran told Mamdani that his pantry had been empty without access to SNAP benefits due to the federal shutdown, until Monday after Governor Kathy Hochul ordered state agencies to fully fund SNAP benefits for November over the weekend.<\/p>\n Veterans told Mamdani that they had been caught in the middle of federal politics that had compromised their access to basic needs and faith that their leaders would take care of them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about day to day dignity,\u201d Mamdani told a group of vets. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about, just the bare minimum.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Lampon said that he did not vote for Mamdani, but that he recognized the way he\u00a0was able to mobilize New Yorkers in record numbers.\n<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThe people of the city have thrown themselves behind him because they expect that he really has a feeling for the people and that he\u2019s going to do stuff for them,\u201d Lampon said.\n<\/p>\n He told the mayor-elect to use the momentum and \u201ccarry that as far as he can.\u201d Lampon told the Bronx Times that he wants to see the Mamdani administration make advances in the economy and tackle the city\u2019s housing crisis, but admitted it was a tall order.<\/p>\n When asked about how Mamdani planned to tackle affordability in the Bronx, he specifically highlighted his housing proposal<\/a> to freeze the rent in rent stabilized buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen is that the affordability crisis is especially hitting Bronxites and the proportion of Bronx tenants who are rent stabilized is higher than in other boroughs, and that\u2019s also the importance of delivering on that rent freeze,\u201d Mamdani said to the Bronx Times.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI have no idea how he\u2019s gonna handle any of that,\u201d Lampon said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if a mayor has enough power to handle housing in the city and the economy as well, but if he can do anything towards that, I will be behind him 100%\u201d<\/p>\n Reach Sadie Brown at\u00a0sbrown@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0or (214) 994-6723. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t
\n![\"Bronx](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251111-brown-mamdani-veterans-4.jpg\")
Bronx vets took turns posing for photos with mayor-elect Mamdani on veterans day at a luncheon in Parkchester where he spoke with service members about what they need from city government. Photo by Sadie Brown\n<\/p>\n![\"Mayor-elect](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251111-brown-mamdani-veterans-7.jpg\")
Mayor-elect Mamdani and a group of veterans discussed the affordability crisis and delays in receiving their November SNAP benefits after a government shutdown cut off funding to the program. Photo: by Sadie Brown<\/p>\n![\"Mamdani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251111-brown-mamdani-veterans-9.jpg\")
Mamdani told reporters outside of the event that he \u201chadn\u2019t thought much about parades\u201d and that he was more interested in hearing from veterans themselves. Photo: Sadie Brown<\/p>\n