It wasn’t that long ago when we discussed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to create a commission to study whether Christopher Columbus was an offensive, racist, slave driving figure unworthy of public commemoration and whether or not his statues in Columbus Circle and elsewhere around the Big Apple should be removed. It was an understandable move for a purely political creature with a (D) behind his name because the erasure of uncomfortable history and the destruction of public monuments is all the rage these days on the left. But at the time I warned their might be consequences.

It may be easy for the Italian Mayor to forget that he’s in a city with a very, very large Italian population and heritage. And they happen to be quite fond of Columbus and the chance to celebrate their heritage every year. Add those things together and you arrive at the predictable result. The Mayor will not be invited to the next Columbus Day Parade. (New York Post)

Mayor de Blasio won’t be marching in the Bronx Columbus Day Parade Sunday because he hasn’t been invited amid the controversy over what to do with statues of Christopher Columbus on city property. “Why would I have a mayor march who acts like Pontius Pilate. He washes his hands and puts up an 18-member committee to look at each statute,” said Tony Signorile, who runs the parade held in Morris Park. “At this point, I think he is a fake Italian.” The mayor last went to the Bronx parade in 2015. He also attended in 2012 and 2013 when he was public advocate.

Ouch. When Tony Signorile accuses you of being a fake Italian, the gloves have come off. (If you don’t live in New York, that might not make much sense, but trust me.) But what was the Mayor really expecting to happen after that statue debacle? There are countless families in New York City who were obviously going to be very upset over that. And I can think of five in particular who you really don’t want to get upset… not that I’m suggesting anything here.

What’s truly remarkable is the Mayor’s response. When the press asked him about it he had the nerve to answer by saying, “I’m never surprised when people for their own political motivations do something. I think The bottom line is this is an event on behalf of the entire city of New York to celebrate Italian heritage, like we have events every single month to celebrate all the people who make up this city. And I don’t think it’s something to politicize. But they have that right if that’s what they want to do.”

How does someone like Mayor de Blasio possibly get those words out with a straight face? Everything he’s been doing to appease the social justice warriors nationally in an effort to build his profile has been purely political and frequently offensive. He’s gone to war with his own police department to appease the Black Lives Matter crowd. He didn’t take a stand against having a convicted FALN terrorist marching in the Puerto Rico Day Parade until he was shamed into it by the local press. And his move to condemn both Columbus and U.S. Grant was cheap political theatrics at its worst. (Now that I come to mention that previous parade, maybe he should just stay out of all of them at this point.)

Don’t mess with the Italians, Mayor de Blasio. Even if you are an Italian. You may have your eyes on statewide or national office, but you still have to go home at night, eat your meals and look in the eyes of your constituents in the Big Apple. And that doesn’t play well ’round those parts.