New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism from the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) after Little Italy was omitted from an official city map of immigrant neighbourhoods linked to a 2026 FIFA World Cup tourism campaign. The heritage group characterised the exclusion as an insult to a community that helped build the city, accusing Mamdani of seeking to "erase" Italian Americans, and framing its objection in starkly political and, at points, ethnically charged terms.

The map, titled "New York City Immigrant Enclaves", was produced by New York City Tourism + Conventions as part of its NYC Neighborhood Passport campaign and promoted by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs at pop-up booths. It highlights 30 neighbourhoods, including Chinatown as well as lesser-known areas such as Little Palestine and Little Haiti, but does not feature Little Italy or any Jewish or Irish neighbourhoods. IACRL president Mike Crispi said City Hall could accommodate "every fashionable progressive constituency" but not Little Italy, and the group also claimed the mayor had denied its permit for Unity Day 2026. For context, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States between the 1880s and 1924, with roughly a third settling in New York City. Mamdani, elected in November 2025 and sworn in as the city's first socialist mayor on 1 January 2026, has positioned himself as strongly pro-immigrant.