Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is going through requires formal disciplinary proceedings after publishing dozens of anti-Muslim posts on social media, together with one Sunday calling for the “expulsion of Muslims from western nations.”
The posts, made after the Chanukah capturing on Bondi Seashore in Sydney, Australia, obtained backlash from her colleagues, with a number of Council members calling for her censure. Fifteen folks have been killed within the bloodbath, described by the Australian prime minister as an antisemitic act of terror.
“We’re in the midst of a global jihad the likes of which the world has never seen, and we cannot ignore it,” the northeast Queens Republican wrote in a single publish, timestamped at 4:52 a.m. Sunday and later deleted. “We need to take very seriously the need to begin the expulsion of Muslims from western nations, or at the very least the severe sanction of them within western borders.”
New York Metropolis Council member Vickie Paladino (entrance) is pictured outdoors 26 Federal Plaza after the NYC Council Widespread Sense Caucus’ assembly with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan at ICE’s New York headquarters on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams / New York Each day Information)
The Council’s Progressive Caucus referred to as for the Ethics Committee to start and fast-track the censure course of so the total Council might vote on Paladino’s “heinous rhetoric.”
“For years, Paladino has engaged in a well-documented pattern of racist and inflammatory outbursts that have no place in our city and our politics,” the 17-member caucus stated in a press release. “To continue to allow her to spew this hatred without consequences is unacceptable. We stand with Muslim New Yorkers and are united in condemning this latest tirade. We hope our colleagues will join us.”
Mayor-elect Mamdani, who has discovered himself the goal of assaults based mostly on his Muslim religion together with from Paladino, additionally condemned the councilwoman’s feedback.
“A million Muslims live in New York City. We belong here, as does every other New Yorker,” he stated in a press release. “This is vile Islamophobia from the councilwoman and it has no place in our city.”
Zohran Mamdani speaks outdoors the Islamic Cultural Middle of the Bronx Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Barry Williams/ New York Each day Information)
Paladino was unapologetic in her response.
“It’s been clear for a while that progressives don’t value freedom of speech, but I find it very funny that they’re so apocalyptic about this tweet, while their own social media accounts and those of their leftist allies in the DSA spew some of the most toxic, violent, and anti-American rhetoric on a daily basis,” Paladino stated in response to the backlash.
“Once again progressives are acting like the PR wing and defense attorneys for radical Islam after a wave of terror attacks, and the West is going to have to deal with this dangerous reality soon enough.”
Julie Menin, the incoming Council speaker, stated the publish was taken down after she requested Paladino to take action, however didn’t go so far as to name for the Ethics Committee to open an investigation.
There are simply two weeks after earlier than the Council will hit a reset within the new yr, when Menin will make new committee appointments.
Speaker Adrienne Adams took an analogous tone, saying Paladino’s rhetoric “threatens the safety of us all.”
“It is the responsibility of the Council’s Committee on Standards and Ethics to bring disciplinary action against Council members, as officials democratically elected by New Yorkers,” she stated. “This committee must effectively hold Council members accountable for violations of Council rules.”
