NYC Mayor Mamdani apologizes for excluding Black Americans in previous ‘city built by immigrants’ comments

The New York City mayor said, “We have to tell the full story,” which includes the contributions of Black New Yorkers.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani had to set the record straight: Black New Yorkers helped build New York City.

Speaking to historian and podcaster Latoya Coleman, he admitted to “overlooking” the contributions of Black Americans in the city in his previous comments, where he said New York was a “city built by immigrants.”

“I’ve been guilty of this myself,” Mamdani, who is New York City’s first Asian and Muslim mayor, said. “If we’re being honest, then we have to tell the full story. And when we tell a sweeping generalization like that, we lose sight of the fact that Black New Yorkers helped to build New York City.”

Mamdani’s comments were not made in a vacuum. The New York City mayor, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, is one of many political and public figures who have taken a stance in support of immigrants and against President Donald Trump’s federal immigration crackdown. Many have vehemently condemned the administration for flooding cities with immigration agents, which has resulted in intimidation and violence towards residents and has cost the lives of at least three U.S. citizens.

But Mamdani acknowledged that in trying to uplift New York City’s immigrants, he excluded Black Americans, specifically the descendants of American chattel slavery.

“That’s why I’m here to apologize, because you learn from it,” he said. “And I think as much as we want to and should support immigrant New Yorkers, their incredible place in the city, doing so doesn’t necessitate that we overlook the contributions of Black New Yorkers. We can tell that full story.”

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Mamdani was not the only public figure made to reflect on this type of comment during Black History Month. Following his historic win at the Grammys, country music’s rising star Shaboozey, who is Nigerian-American, apologized on his social media page for saying in his speech that “immigrants built this country, literally.” The speech prompted so much discussion that even Bernice King weighed in.

“To be clear, I know and believe that we— Black people, have also built this country,” he wrote. “My words were never intended to dismiss that truth. I am both a Black man and the son of Nigerian immigrants and in the overwhelming moment of winning my first Grammy my focus was on honoring the sacrifices my parents made by coming to this country to give me and my siblings opportunities they never had.”