The Israel Day Parade will march down Fifth Avenue at 11:30 on Sunday morning, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani will not be part of the festivities. In keeping with his campaign promise, Mamdani will be elsewhere, because he “made [his] views abundantly clear” that he does not support the policies of the Israeli government. Mamdani’s police commissioner, however, will be in attendance with other public figures; in fact, Jessica Tisch is this year’s parade grand marshal.

The mayor’s viewpoint has many people wondering if politicians can ever truly put politics aside to simply honor the everyday people whose culture is woven into the fabric of daily life in New York City. On 710 WOR’s Curtis Sliwa and Larry Mendte in the Morning program, Curtis and Larry debated the logic behind Mamdani’s decision to sit this one out, and whether or not he should soften his stance.

Curtis was quick to remind everyone that Mamdani made his choice not to attend because all parades boil down to politics: “He made that very clear in the campaign. Imagine, [mayoral] debate number one at NBC, towards the end of it when I coined the line, ‘All Parades Matter- come on, Zohran Mamdani!’ And he made it very clear, ‘I’m not marching in the Israel Day Parade.’ He’s certainly not going to march in the Columbus Day Parade, because he wants to take down the Chirstopher Columbus statues. And everybody’s getting all bent out of shape and I’m saying, look, I went through years of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which was run by the Ancient Order of the Hibernians… It’s always political. Every one of these parades are political in one way or the other.”

Larry, meanwhile, suggested putting people before politics might be the better tactic for Mamdani: “First mayor ever not to march in this parade. That’s a big deal. That’s why it’s a big story, and you should be able to sometimes put aside your beliefs about Israel and understand that the people marching in that parade are your constituents… He talks about the billionaires- ‘Yeah, I’ll have a conversation with anybody. I may not agree with them but I’ll have a conversation because they are a New Yorker and I’m going to look out for New Yorkers.’ He says that, and yet he does not practice what he preaches.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning