Following his historic victory in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani is facing renewed criticism as a five-year-old tweet has resurfaced, drawing the ire of Italian American groups and conservative voices. The 2020 post shows the then-state assembly candidate flipping his middle finger at a statue of Christopher Columbus in his Astoria district, accompanied by the caption, “Take it down.” The image has gone viral once again, ensuring that a contentious cultural debate will follow Mamdani into City Hall.
The tweet, originally posted in June 2020, has long been a point of contention. Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition, reaffirmed his group’s opposition to Mamdani, stating, “He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community… I don’t think he will be mayor for all the people of New York City.” The sentiment was echoed by Joseph Scelsa, founder of the Italian American Museum, who noted that Italian Americans make up about 8% of the city’s population and called the gesture “exclusionary.”
During the campaign, Mamdani’s rival, Andrew Cuomo, seized on the tweet, using it to argue that Mamdani was an “offender” rather than a victim. “Christopher Columbus is considered by many a saint in the Italian-American community and you give it the finger? You offend me as an Italian-American and the Italian-American community,” Cuomo stated just days before early voting began. The criticism highlights the delicate balancing act Mamdani will face in uniting a diverse city.
The resurfaced tweet has ignited a familiar debate on social media, with supporters defending Mamdani’s right to critique a controversial historical figure and detractors seeing it as an affront to a community and its heritage. As the tweet continues to circulate, it signals that Mamdani’s past activism will be heavily scrutinized, and his approach to symbolic issues will be as closely watched as his policy agenda in the months to come.
