Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a map celebrating New York City's immigrant communities.
There was just one problem.
He somehow managed to leave off Little Italy.
Read that again.
One of the most iconic immigrant neighborhoods in America—one that draws millions of visitors from around the world and represents generations of Italian-Americans who helped build New York—was simply missing.
And it wasn't just Little Italy.
Historic Irish communities like Woodlawn and major Jewish communities such as Borough Park were also absent from the map.
That's not a small oversight. That's a spectacular failure to understand the city you're supposed to lead.
New York wasn't built overnight. It wasn't built by politicians. It was built by immigrants who came here with nothing and turned neighborhoods into thriving communities.
The Italians helped build the tunnels, bridges, roads, businesses, restaurants, churches, and traditions that made New York famous.
The Irish dug canals, built railroads, staffed the NYPD and FDNY for generations, and helped shape the city's government and identity.
Jewish New Yorkers transformed finance, medicine, education, the garment industry, science, and the arts, leaving a legacy that can still be seen in every borough.
These communities didn't just live in New York.
They built New York.
When you publish a map celebrating immigrant history while leaving out some of the most influential immigrant communities the city has ever known, people are going to ask questions.
Was it careless?
Was nobody in City Hall familiar with New York's history?
Or is preserving that history simply not a priority?
After the backlash, Mayor Mamdani said Little Italy would be added in a future update. That's good. It should have been there from the beginning.
History isn't something you edit because it's inconvenient.
You don't get to celebrate immigration while overlooking the communities that helped turn New York City into the greatest city in America.
The Italians deserve to be remembered.
The Irish deserve to be remembered.
The Jewish community deserves to be remembered.
Because honoring history isn't divisive.
Erasing it is.