NYC mayor says Little Italy will be added to immigrant map

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on July 10 that his administration will add Little Italy to an official city map of immigrant neighborhoods, following days of intense criticism from Italian American leaders and others who accused the city of cultural erasure for omitting the historic enclave. The controversy centered on a "New York City Immigrant Enclaves" map, part of a tourism "Neighborhood Passport" program tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which highlighted approximately 30 areas but excluded Little Italy, Irish neighborhoods, and Jewish communities.

The map, promoted by NYC Tourism + Conventions and sourced from the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, included neighborhoods such as Little Palestine, Little Pakistan, Little Haiti, Little Yemen, and Little Senegal. Its release sparked immediate backlash, with critics calling the omission of Little Italy a deliberate slight against one of the city's most iconic immigrant communities. The City Council's Italian Caucus stated that omitting Little Italy was "incomplete at best and insulting at worst," arguing that Italian Americans are a foundational immigrant community that helped build modern New York.