It's only fitting, he later told reporters, for a future mayor whose focus is on the city's least fortunate residents.
"I wanted to ensure that on Veteran's Day, I actually got the time to sit down with veterans and hear from them. And some of the stories that I heard from men who have served this country, and given everything they could to protect this nation, is that they have often been left behind and forgotten by this same nation, by this same city," Mamdani said.
Mamdani did not attend the city's Veterans Day Parade and would not say whether he will march next year.
But the parade has been attended by every New York City mayor going back at least 50 years. From Ed Koch to David Dinkins. Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams-who marched today. And told us that the mayor-elect missed an opportunity.
"49% of New Yorkers stated they did not want him to be mayor. Some of them are walking on Fifth Avenue today. Symbolism is marching in this parade, marching in the Columbus Day Parade, marching in the Israeli Day Parade, the Dominican, the Puerto Rican Day Parade," Mamdani said.
Mamdani did attend the Dominican and Puerto Rican Day parades. And parades for Bangladeshi and West Indian New Yorkers. He even marched in his own parade last week on the Brooklyn Bridge. At October's debate, he said parades are not exactly a priority.
"There are many parades that I would not be attending because I'd be focusing on the work of leading this city," Mamdani said.
For Mamdani, 'symbolism' on Veterans Day was making a different kind of statement. And not just about parades, but setting the tone for his agenda in the next four years.
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