New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism after skipping the installation of the new archbishop of New York, becoming the first city mayor in nearly a century to miss the ceremony.
Ronald Hicks was installed last Friday as the 11th archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York at St. Patrick's Cathedral, succeeding Cardinal Timothy Dolan in a ceremony attended by thousands.
Though Mamdani was nowhere to be found, he acknowledged the event with a post on social media.
"Congratulations to Archbishop Ronald Hicks on today's installment and welcome to New York City," Mamdani wrote.
"I know that Archbishop Hicks and I share a deep and abiding commitment to the dignity of every human being and look forward to working together to create a more just and compassionate city where every New Yorker can thrive," Mamdani added.
The mayor's office told the New York Post that Mamdani had a scheduling conflict, sending one of his deputy mayors, a Catholic, to the ceremony instead.
"The mayor didn't go, but he tweeted about it," an aide for Mamdani told another reporter, according to the Post.
Since at least 1939, every New York City mayor, starting with Fiorello LaGuardia, has attended an archbishop ceremony.
The Catholic League ripped Mamdani in a statement.
"Mamdani has been in office for just over a month, and already he is signaling to Catholics that they are not welcome," the Catholic League said.
"The mayor of New York City traditionally attends the installation of the new archbishop of New York, but Mamdani — who was invited — ghosted the event."
The Catholic League noted Mamdani attended an interfaith breakfast at the New York Public Library earlier that day, just a short walk away from St. Patrick's Cathedral.
"He could easily have been there," the Catholic League said. "Instead, he attended to business as usual."
Mamdani's schedule, obtained by the Post, showed he had a prayer breakfast at 10 a.m. and a winter weather press conference at 4 p.m.
"It was a missed opportunity for the mayor to show he wants to serve all the segments of the city," Bill Cunningham, a past adviser to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told the Post.
"There are certain institutions the mayor of New York might want to take note of. One of them is the Catholic Church," Cunningham added.
A onetime spokesman for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani blasted Mamdani for skipping the event.
"I thought Mamdani only disdains Jews who like Israel," Ken Frydman told the Post.
"Turns out he also disdains Italian, Irish, and other Catholic New Yorkers."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.