Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s communications team inadvertently sent out an early version of his Friday speech commemorating America’s 250th birthday, exposing a series of heavily scrutinized internal revisions.
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The staff, described as a group of ambitious Gen-Z aides, debated granular points tied to both American and New York City history, including details of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Brooklyn and the precise timeline of the first Chinese immigrants arriving in the city.
Internal discussions also showed aides wrestling with language around inclusion, including whether to avoid the term “slave” and whether Black Americans should be specifically referenced.
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“Given the fuss they tend to make, I wonder if we should mention the Catholics too,” one staffer wrote in response to a passage referencing Puritans, Sikhs, Quakers, Muslims and Jews fleeing religious persecution.
Mamdani speechwriter Julian Gerson brushed off the suggestion, replying, “meh we can’t get everyone.”
The speech was delivered at a tightly controlled event where reporters were not permitted inside and had no access to the newly naturalized U.S. citizens who appeared beside the mayor during the 15-minute address.
City Hall did not directly respond to the apparent error, though a spokesperson said in a statement: “The speech adhered to the AP style guide which recommends the use of ‘enslaved people’ over ‘slaves.’
“The speech and the Mayor spoke to every community and the rich history, breadth, and diversity of those communities that make up New York City.”
