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new york city council
'What Trump and His Sycophants Have Wrought': Mamdani Responds to NYC Councilmember Calling for His Deportation
In a social media post, New York City Councilmember Vickie Paladino called the mayoral candidate a "radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country."
Jun 04, 2025
New York City mayoral candidate and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani responded forcefully on Tuesday to comments from a Republican New York City councilmember, who the day prior took issue with Mamdani's politics and called for him to be deported.
Late Monday, New York City Councilmember Vickie Paladino, who represents a section of Queens, wrote from her nongovernmental X account: "Let's just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn't even been a U.S. citizen for 10 years—much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we've ever been about."
Paladino ended the social media post with the word, "Deport."
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is a U.S. citizen. He was born in Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. In 2018, he became naturalized as an American citizen. If elected, he would become New York City's first Muslim mayor.
Paladino made the comments in response to a 2019 post from Mamdani, in which he said he was excited to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who at that time was running in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. He had not been able to cast a ballot when Sanders ran in 2016 because he was not at that time a citizen, he said in the post.
"Death threats. Islamophobic bigotry. Now a sitting councilmember calling for my deportation. Enough. This is what [President Donald] Trump and his sycophants have wrought," wrote Mamdani on X in response to Paladino. "It's an assault on the values of our city and our Constitution. Will Cuomo condemn this or will that upset his MAGA donors?"
Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is Mamdani's main opponent in the Democratic mayoral primary, which will take place on June 24. Cuomo has consistently been the clear front-runner in the contest, though a recent poll from from Emerson College Polling, PIX11, and The Hill showed Mamdani cutting into Cuomo's lead.
Cuomo did respond in a statement that was sent to The New York Times. "The Republican answer to everything, including the common cold, is deportation and it has to stop," he said.
Paladino, who is staunch supporter of Israel and has denounced pro-Palestine student activism, largely doubled down on her remarks on Tuesday. A statement put out by Paladino's office said that she "stands by" her statement, but acknowledged that Mamdani "has clearly achieved U.S. citizenship and thus is not eligible for deportation."
The statement brings up the fact that Mamdani helped found a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine while in college and says that her office has received threats from "Zohran's violent supporters."
Calling his agenda laced with "antisemitism, Marxism, and Anti-Americanism," Paladino said in the statement that "his candidacy and this incident underscore the need for the deportation efforts currently being undertaken by the Trump administration, particularly on our college campuses where these ideas metastasize, so that we can prevent any future Zohran's from taking root in America."
Trump has made a crackdown on immigration a centerpiece of his administration, and that effort has included targeting foreign-born university students who are involved with the pro-Palestine student movement.
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'Wrong Side of History': NYC Mayor Adams Vetoes Solitary Confinement Ban
"With this veto, the mayor has condemned New Yorkers to suffer in solitary confinement and isolation, and he did so after the cameras were turned off and backs were turned," the bill's sponsor said.
Jan 20, 2024
New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a New York City Council bill on Friday that would have banned the practice of solitary confinement in city jails.
Also on Friday, Adams vetoed another bill that would have increased transparency and oversight of the New York Police Department (NYPD). However, both bills passed the council with more votes than is required to override a veto.
"To recap: Police transparency is good. Solitary confinement is bad. And Mayor Adams is committed to manufacturing controversy where there is none," Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso wrote on social media in response to the news. "The Mayor shouldn't be spending time sowing dissent on veto-proof bills that will pass regardless of his actions today."
"Solitary confinement is torture. It often results in lasting psychological damage, and undermines public safety both inside and outside New York City's jails."
Solitary confinement is an increasingly controversial practice that has been recognized as torture by the United Nations and human rights groups if it lasts for more than 15 days in a row, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Its use at New York's Rikers Island has been linked to at least two recent deaths: Layleen Polanco Xtravaganza, who died after having a seizure while in solitary in 2019 and Kalief Browder, who took his own life after being placed in solitary confinement for two years.
"Solitary confinement is inhumane, and its presence in our city is indefensible," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the legislation, said ahead of its passage last month. "Committing an infraction in jail can cause you to lose privileges, not basic human rights. People in solitary are isolated, denied human contact and connection, denied support, and come out of these deplorable conditions worse than when they went in—and some don't come out at all."
The bill, 549A, would have required that everyone in jail in New York City be allowed to gather with other inmates for at least 14 hours every day, except during emergency lock-ins or to deescalate conflict, ABC News reported. In those cases, inmates could only be confined for up to four hours.
Adams announced the veto by press release, and not during an earlier press conference when he announced his veto of the police transparency measure, as New York Magazine reported.
"Our administration does not support solitary confinement in our jails, and New York City has not used the practice for years. In fact, we have achieved significant reductions in key indicators of violence in our correction system without solitary confinement," Adams said in a statement. "But despite the misleading nickname, had [the bill] taken effect, the Department of Correction would no longer be able to protect people in custody, or the union workers charged with their safety, from violent individuals. I implore the City Council to work with our administration and follow the federal monitor's guidance to abandon this misguided bill."
Williams criticized the mayor's decision.
"With this veto, the mayor has condemned New Yorkers to suffer in solitary confinement and isolation, and he did so after the cameras were turned off and backs were turned. It's cowardly, weak, shameful, and entirely expected from this version of this mayor," Williams said in a statement.
"I don't think there's a single person in the city outside the mayor's office who thinks the status quo on Rikers right now is good and effective," Williams continued. "The ongoing use of solitary confinement and isolation in New York City—no matter what the administration calls it—is indefensible, and vetoing the ban is inexcusable."
Other city council members and rights groups spoke out against the mayor's action.
Speaker Adrienne Adams and Criminal Justice Chair Sandy Nurse promised to "take the steps to enact this law over the Mayor's veto." The measure passed 39-7, and an override requires 34 votes.
"The Council passed Intro. 549-A to ban solitary confinement with more than a veto-proof majority because it is imperative to make the city's jails safer for those who are detained and staff alike," Adams and Nurse said. "We cannot allow the human rights and safety crisis on Rikers to continue by maintaining the status quo of failed policies and practices."
The #HALTsolitary Campaign thanked Adams and Nurse for promising to override the mayor's veto.
"He's on the wrong side of history, human rights, and public safety," the group, which is led by impacted New Yorkers, posted on social media.
The NYCL also encouraged the city council to pass the legislation.
"Solitary confinement is torture," the group wrote on social media. "It often results in lasting psychological damage, and undermines public safety both inside and outside New York City's jails."
Council members and rights groups also criticized Adams' veto of the NYPD transparency measure—5862A or the "How Many Stops Act,"—which passed by a 35-9 margin.
"The Mayor's veto betrays his stated goal of public safety and harms the Black and Latino communities that bear the brunt of these stops."
This bill would have mandated that New York police officers report on civilian stops and searchers and give more detailed information about vehicle stops and searchers, ABC News explained.
In justifying his veto, Adams said that while the legislation "has good intentions behind it, the bill is misguided and compromises our public safety."
"Our administration supports efforts to make law enforcement more transparent, more just, and more accountable, but this bill will handcuff our police by drowning officers in unnecessary paperwork that will saddle taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars in additional NYPD overtime each year, while simultaneously taking officers away from policing our streets and engaging with the community," he said.
In response, Council Speaker Adams said the council was "prepared to override this veto," issuing a joint statement with Public Safety Chair Yusef Salaam.
"The false narrative that we cannot have transparency is bad for our city, and belies the fact that accountability is vital to improving public safety by increasing trust," Adams and Salaam said. "The Mayor's veto betrays his stated goal of public safety and harms the Black and Latino communities that bear the brunt of these stops."
The NYCLU wrote on social media: "The mayor's veto leaves another stain on an administration that has been winding back checks on hyper-aggressive, biased, and unaccountable policing. We are confident the city council will heed the call of impacted New Yorkers and advocates and override the Mayor's veto."
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'Incredible': Central Park Five Exoneree Yusef Salaam Declares Victory in NYC Council Primary
"I was 15 years old when I was run over by the spiked wheels of justice. And here I am now taking that same platform and turning it into a purpose, trying to take my pain and doing something about it."
Jun 28, 2023
Yusef Salaam—one of the Central Park Five teenagers who spent years behind bars before being exonerated for a rape they did not commit—declared victory Tuesday night in his Democratic primary race for a New York City Council seat representing Harlem and other parts of Upper Manhattan.
Although the outcome of Tuesday's contest may not be officially finalized for days due to New York City voting rules, with more than 99% of votes counted, Salaam leads state Assemblymember Inez Dickens, his closest competitor in a crowded contest for the 9th Council District seat, by more than 2,700 ballots, according to the city's Board of Elections.
The 49-year-old poet, activist, inspirational speaker, and father of 10 children is all but guaranteed to win November's general election in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.
"Started from the bottom, now I'm here," Salaam—who ran on a progressive platform—told supporters during his victory speech.
"This campaign has been about those who have been counted out. This campaign has been about those who have been forgotten," Salaam continued. "This campaign has been about our Harlem community, who has been pushed into the margins of life and made to believe that they were supposed to be there."
"What has happened, in this campaign, has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this," he added. "I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me."
Supporters hailed Salaam's unlikely rise to the halls of power, with fellow Central Park Five exoneree Raymond Santana tweeting, "From hated to most loved."
Sherrilyn Ifill, former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, called Salaam's apparent victory "a gift NYC doesn't deserve" that "can never balance what this city did to him."
Filmmaker Ken Burns, who along with his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband David McMahon made the 2012 documentary feature The Central Park Five, said he's "hopeful that young people everywhere will appreciate the poetry and justice in this victory."
Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, tweeted one of her father's best-known quotes, "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
Questioned about his lack of political experience earlier Tuesday outside a polling place, Salaam said that he believes being a political novice is "a great thing."
"I was 15 years old when I was run over by the spiked wheels of justice," Salaam told reporters. "And here I am now taking that same platform and turning it into a purpose, trying to take my pain and doing something about it."
In April 1989 Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Santana, and Salaam were arrested following the beating and rape of a woman jogging in Central Park. The five Black and Latino teens were beaten, deprived of food, drink, and sleep, and otherwise coerced by New York City Police Department officers into falsely confessing to the rape. They were tried, convicted, and spent years behind bars for a crime they did not commit.
Salaam, who was 15 years old when his life was turned upside down, was imprisoned for six years and eight months before his exoneration.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump, then just a New York businessman, spent $85,000—more than $200,000 today—on full-page ads in the city's four major newspapers calling for the restoration of capital punishment so that the Central Park Five could be executed.
Salaam reacted to Trump's March indictment on 34 felony counts in connection with alleged hush money payments to women who say the former president had sex with them by buying a full-page New York Times ad of his own.
"Now that you have been indicted and are facing criminal charges, I do not resort to hatred, bias, or racism—as you once did," Salaam's ad said. "Even though 34 years ago you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm."
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