|
Written by Frank Ferraro, Friends of the Italian Americans President
New York City was built by immigrants. From the tenements of the Lower East Side to the streets of the Bronx, from Brooklyn's waterfront to the neighborhoods of Queens, wave after wave of newcomers arrived with little more than hope and hard work—and they built the greatest city in the world. To ignore that history is to dishonor New York itself.
Yet Mayor Mamdani's so-called "Immigrant Enclaves" map does exactly that. His administration's decision to exclude Italian, Irish, and Jewish communities—three of the largest and most influential immigrant populations in the city's history—is not just an oversight. It is a deliberate act of historical erasure and political expediency.
Let's be clear: Italian Americans are not newcomers to this city—we are foundational. Between 1880 and 1920, more than four million Italian immigrants arrived in the United States, with hundreds of thousands settling in New York City. They lived in neighborhoods like Little Italy, the Bronx's Belmont section, and Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens. They built churches, schools, businesses, and a culture that enriched every borough. They dug the tunnels, laid the tracks, built the bridges, and fought in America's wars. They were once hated, denied jobs, and told to "go back"—just like so many immigrants today. And like so many today, they persevered, contributed, and became American.
The Irish story is the same. Fleeing famine and oppression, Irish immigrants were among the first to labor on the city's infrastructure—including the Croton Aqueduct—while facing discrimination every step of the way. Their neighborhoods, churches, and institutions became pillars of civic life.
And Jewish immigrants—many fleeing pogroms and persecution—transformed the Lower East Side and beyond. They built garment industries, founded hospitals, opened synagogues, championed labor rights, and helped shape the city's intellectual, cultural, and economic life.
To leave these communities off an official city map is to send a dangerous message: that some immigrant histories matter, while others do not. That narrative is not only false—it is divisive.
Mayor Mamdani's map reflects a narrow, politicized view of identity that pits one group against another. It overlooks the shared immigrant experience that unites us all. It ignores the fact that today's "established communities" were once the "newcomers."
| 
