Dear Friends,

Yes, it is that time of year again, and the great National Columbus Day Parade will soon be upon us—the largest celebration of our heritage and culture in the world

As a very proud Italian American, Columbus Day has a special meaning for me. It is a day when we celebrate our heritage, our culture, and the remarkable contributions of Italians and Italian Americans to our great country and to humanity. The list is overwhelming, and I need not remind you of all that has been given to the world through the genius, creativity, hard work, and compassion of Italians.

A question I have frequently been asked these days is whether Mayor Mamdani should march in the Columbus Day Parade. I believe he should not march because he has offended and insulted Christopher Columbus and our community, both before and during his mayoralty.

I can point to another time when former Mayor Bloomberg wanted to march in the Columbus Day parade accompanied by the cast of the Sopranos. At that time the leadership of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the organizer of the parade, correctly saw this as offensive and insulting to the Italian American community.

The foundation went to court and the court agreed and Mayor Bloomberg was prevented from participating that year. To his credit, Mayor Bloomberg realize his poor judgement and during the remainder of his Mayoralty he supported the values and goals of the  CCF and the Columbus Day Parade.

Does the disrespectful actions towards Italian Americans disqualify Mayor Mandami from participating without an apology is the question and in my view a strong argument in making that decision.

While I personally disagree with his political agenda and with the way he has demonstrated his views toward our community, he now has an opportunity like one of his respected predecessors to correct his misinformed and disrespectful attitude and apologize for his actions.

However, we do not need his presence at the parade to validate our culture or our accomplishments. We know who we are and what our community has contributed to America and the world. The question is does he know that? At the moment his behavior towards the Italian American community speaks for itself.  

Mayor Mamdani’s offensive and insulting actions towards Italian Americans disqualify him from participation.  Should the Mayor apologize, I hope he does so with honesty and sincerely, recognizing that he needs to correct his misinformed and disrespectful attitude and apologize for his actions. Sadly, I believe the Mayor will not be expressing his remorse anytime soon.

Let us celebrate our great heritage and culture on Columbus Day with pride, dignity, and humility.

I leave you with the words of a great Italian, spoken at the foot of the Columbus Statue in Columbus Circle: “To the world, he gave a world.” I do not think it gets better than that.

May God always bless Italy and the United States of America.

Happy Columbus Day!