My paternal great-grandparents came to America from Sicily. My maternal great-grandparents came from Ireland and Germany.
Like millions of immigrants before and after them, they came legally, seeking opportunity. They worked hard, raised families rooted in faith, paid taxes, and believed America rewarded perseverance, responsibility, and sacrifice.
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Their story did not end with immigration. It continued through assimilation, service, and gratitude.
MAYOR MAMDANI, WHY DID YOU ERASE LITTLE ITALY?
Both of my grandfathers served in the New York City Police Department. My brother spent more than 20 years in the Marine Corps, serving as a sniper in Iraq and earning the Bronze Star. I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, served 11 years as a Navy officer, and today represent Long Islanders in Congress.
That is the American dream — not simply coming to America, but becoming American.
That is why I was disappointed to see New York release an official map celebrating its “immigrant enclaves” while omitting many of the neighborhoods that helped build both the city and our nation.
Little Italy. Arthur Avenue. Staten Island’s Italian American communities. The Irish neighborhoods surrounding Gaelic Park and Woodlawn. Borough Park’s Jewish community. Entire chapters of New York’s immigrant story were left off the map.
But the problem is bigger than a map.
For generations, New York proudly called itself America’s melting pot. The goal was never for immigrants to remain isolated in permanent enclaves. It was for people from every corner of the world to preserve the best of their heritage while embracing a common American identity. The map misses that larger story.
Nor is this an isolated incident. In 2020, now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly called for the removal of Christopher Columbus statues, posting simply, “Take it down” alongside a photograph of a Columbus monument accompanied by a middle finger. Today, under his administration, Italian American neighborhoods and other historic immigrant communities are absent from an official map celebrating New York’s immigrant heritage. The message is difficult to ignore: Some immigrant stories are celebrated while others are forgotten.
The real story of New York is not one of separation. It is one of assimilation.
Italian Americans helped build New York’s roads, bridges, schools, churches, police departments, firehouses, labor unions, and small businesses. Irish immigrants strengthened public institutions and served in law enforcement and the military. Jewish immigrants transformed medicine, commerce, finance, law, and the arts. German immigrants fueled manufacturing, education, and industry. Alongside them, countless other immigrant communities helped make New York the greatest city in the world.
Americans should celebrate every chapter of that story. But heritage should unite us, not divide us. New York’s greatness has never been that it remained a collection of separate enclaves. Its greatness is that generations of immigrants became neighbors, coworkers, police officers, teachers, entrepreneurs, soldiers, and fellow Americans.
That is assimilation. It is one of America’s greatest strengths.
During my years in the Navy, I served alongside Americans whose families came from every corner of the globe. Once we put on the uniform, our ancestry did not determine our duty or our loyalty. We were simply Americans entrusted with defending the greatest nation on Earth.
Government should not decide which immigrant communities deserve recognition and which quietly disappear from the public record. Every generation of immigrants who embraced hard work, family, faith, freedom, and service helped build New York.
MAMDANI’S MAP OF NYC IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORHOODS OUTRAGES ITALIAN COMMUNITY
Mamdani’s map should have reflected that truth.
New York was never defined by its enclaves. It was defined by generations of immigrants who became Americans.
Nick LaLota is a member of the House of Representatives, serving New York’s 1st Congressional District.
