Fact Check: Did Zohran Mamdani say 'Italians turned NYC into war zone' after Little Italy backlash?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Amid the growing backlash against Mayor Zohran Mamdani after New York City released an immigrant enclave map that left out the Little Italy neighborhood, a claim began circulating on social media platforms that the mayor reacted to the backlash by saying that "Italians turned the city into a war zone." Let us analyze and fact-check the viral claim.

Claim: Zohran Mamdani said Italians turned NYC into 'a war zone for 80 years'

According to the viral claim, Zohran Mamdani said that Italians in New York City who are complaining about the omission of Little Italy from the map should “get over it.”

“Italians turned this city into a war zone for 80 years,” the mayor allegedly said.

The claim has spread on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), intensifying the backlash from the city’s Italian community, as well as others, indicating that many appear to believe the claim to be true, while a few others questioned its authenticity, prompting a fact-check.

Fact Check: Zohran Mamdani never made such a remark

The claim, however, is false, as there are no records of the democratic socialist making such a remark against the backlash surrounding the Little Italy omission.

A search on Google for the claim and the remark yielded no relevant results from credible news media outlets. If the claim was true, it would have been widely reported, sparking more backlash against the mayor.

There are also no official announcements, statements, or social media posts from Mamdani or his office that support the claim.

Furthermore, the claim was first posted by a popular parody account on Facebook called "America’s Last Line Of Defense." The picture of Mamdani that accompanied the post also has a small overlay text on the bottom corner stating, "Nothing on this page is real."

Little Italy omission sparks backlash

The claim surfaced amid the dispute centered on a City Hall map titled “New York City Immigrant Enclaves,” which identified neighborhoods such as Little Palestine, Little Egypt and Little Africa but omitted historic Little Italy. 

According to reports, several organizations had expressed concerns after Little Italy was excluded from the map. 

Groups including the Italian American Civil Rights League accused the administration of overlooking and erasing the city's Italian-American heritage. 

‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi also joined the growing backlash against the mayor, posting a fiery video on X accusing the mayor of ignoring the contributions of Italian immigrants while recognizing several other immigrant communities across the city.