Mike Crispi

A bright spot tonight. Congrats to a GREAT man, friend and member of The Italian American Civil Rights League @constantino on being elected to Congress!

Last night was HISTORIC! Italian Americans will NOT be ignored! We built New York, we built New Jersey and we will NO longer be denied this fact. @TheIACRL is here. 450 Italian Americans came together for our first annual “Unity Day Gala.” THANK YOU!

Our family dog Buddy is ready for Halloween! Remember, Democrats idolize sicko Dr. Fauci who not only did the vax, but did HEINOUS experiments on live Beagle pups like this in the name of “science.”

Great to have America First PATRIOT @nicksortor join us in New Jersey tonight! We will NEVER give up on our state and we WILL make it great again. Thank you Nick!

Although I suspect he’s a bit on the liberal side, @MattFriedmanNJ from Politico is easily one of the top journalists in New Jersey if not America. This is tremendous reporting.

Great to have dinner last night at the legendary Rao’s in an East Harlem, New York! Some great New Jersey representation was in the house. Big things are cooking, and I’m not just talking about the meatballs!

It’s my honor to be attending The Citizen Journalist Gala hosted by @OKeefeMedia! @JamesOKeefeIII has been among the most consequential journalists of the 21st century and I am proud to support his mission. Tickets are limited but still available so get yours today and join us at Mar-A-Lago!

My honor to ride down Fifth Avenue in the Columbus Day Parade today with the GREAT @CMvpaladino and @SenSteveChan! And I’d LOVE to see Vickie run for mayor against Zohran in 2029. We need an Italian running our city again.

A BEAUTIFUL morning at the Columbus Day Parade! Great to see so many PATRIOTIC Italian Americans and honorary paisans!

LIVE from The Columbus Day Parade! Zohran is NOT here. A beautiful display celebrating the TRUE history and meaning of this day for Italian Americans!

It’s a great day to be an Italian American! Happy Columbus Day to all my fellow Italian Americans and friends of Italian Americans! This is OUR DAY! And no Democrat socialist whackjobs will ever take it away from us.

The Empire State Building Last Columbus Day vs. This Columbus Day. What changed? The Italian American Civil Rights League (@TheIACRL) took the fight DIRECTLY to the Mayor. And we are winning.

MIKE CRISPI SLAMS MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH VIDEO AND COLUMBUS DAY PARADE SNUB NEW YORK, NY, October 11, 2026 — The Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) is condemning Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest attempt to court Italian Americans through a carefully produced Italian American Heritage Month video while continuing to disregard the traditions and values that have defined our community for generations. In the video, Mamdani chose to celebrate socialist Congressman Vito Marcantonio while conspicuously avoiding Christopher Columbus, the very figure at the center of this month’s most significant Italian American celebration. IACRL President Mike Crispi responded: “Zohran Mamdani thinks Italian Americans are stupid enough to be won over by a slick social media video and a few rehearsed compliments about our ancestors. He pays lip service to our heritage while opposing the Catholic traditions, free enterprise, capitalism, and values of faith, family, and hard work that so many Italian Americans hold dear. He has never apologized for giving the middle finger to Christopher Columbus or for the disrespect our community has endured. He wants to celebrate Italian Americans only when he can redefine our history through his own socialist ideology. We reject that completely.” Mamdani’s video and previous controversies have drawn renewed scrutiny ahead of Columbus Day.  Crispi also blasted the Columbus Day Parade organizers for extending an invitation to Mamdani in the first place, calling his reported decision to skip the festivities entirely predictable. “I said weeks ago that inviting Zohran Mamdani was a pathetic display of weakness, and now he has embarrassed the very people who bent over backward to accommodate him. What did they expect? This is a man who publicly disrespected Columbus and has never offered a sincere apology. Instead of demanding accountability, the parade leadership practically begged him to participate in our celebration. That makes Italian Americans look weak, desperate for approval, and willing to surrender our dignity for a photo opportunity. The Columbus Citizens Foundation should be ashamed of this decision. Our ancestors didn’t build this city through submission, and we shouldn’t honor their sacrifices by groveling before a politician who has shown such contempt for one of our most cherished traditions. Mamdani skipping the parade changes absolutely nothing. Even if he showed up tomorrow, he would still owe Italian Americans an apology.” Crispi previously publicly characterized the invitation as a weak gesture, while recent reporting confirms Mamdani declined invitations to other Columbus Day celebrations.  Crispi concluded by challenging the growing effort to recast Columbus Day as a referendum on Indigenous history rather than recognizing its origins as an Italian American commemoration. “The historical ignorance surrounding Columbus Day is staggering. President Benjamin Harrison called for a national observance in 1892, at a time when Italian immigrants faced vicious discrimination and just one year after eleven Italian Americans were lynched in New Orleans. Columbus became a symbol of Italian American dignity, acceptance, and belonging in a country our ancestors helped build. The holiday was not established to celebrate the mistreatment of Indigenous people, and pretending otherwise deliberately ignores its Italian American significance. People can debate the historical legacy of Columbus, but using that debate to strip Italian Americans of a cherished cultural celebration is either hostility toward our heritage or ignorance of why the holiday exists. Zohran Mamdani can produce a hundred videos praising Italian Americans, but until he acknowledges the disrespect he has shown our community and apologizes, his words are meaningless. The IACRL will never trade our history, our Catholic heritage, or our dignity for political acceptance. We demand respect, not permission.”