Locals condemn Paladino outside her Whitestone office

Locals, including former Congressmember Jamaal Bowman, rally outside of Councilmember Vickie Paladino’s office following comments she has made about deporting Muslims.  Screenshot via Facebook

By Ryan Schwach

Queens locals condemned Councilmember Vickie Paladino during a rally outside her office on Sunday after she called for the deportation of Muslim Americans and for “massive sweeps of Muslim neighborhoods.”

The public denunciation of the Republican member, who is no stranger to controversy, came days after colleagues called for her expulsion on the Council floor following a vote by the body’s Standards and Ethics Committee to investigate her conduct.

“There is no place for hate in our city, New York, our beautiful city,” said Queens Imam Safraz Bacchus. “A city that is shaped by diversity and sustained by the shared belief that every human being is created with dignity.”

“This hate that we are denouncing is against all forms, hate directed to our Jewish community, the Sikh community, the Hindu communities, the African American community,” the imam added.

Sunday’s rally, which was organized by former City Council candidate Japneet Singh and included remarks from other local political candidates – but no sitting elected officials – was a direct response to comments Paladino made last week.

Her initial comments, made on X following the terror attack at Bondi Beach in Australia, argued that Western nations, including the United States, need to “begin the expulsion of Muslims.”

“The administration needs to begin developing a formal legal framework for the denaturalization process and get it over with before we end up with another 9/11 or worse,” she said.

Paladino, who deleted the post after being asked to do so by presumptive Council Speaker Julie Menin, doubled down on those remarks days later, adding in an op-ed to the Queens Jewish Link that there should need to be “massive sweeps of Muslim neighborhoods" in order to facilitate the mass deportations of what she described as “radical Muslims.”

She was swiftly condemned by her elected colleagues. Brooklyn Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who is Muslim, called for the Council to expel Paladino during the final stated meeting of the year.

“She won't apologize, just like every other time,” Hanif said. “So, I ask you, where do we draw the line?”

“We must send a clear message to the New Yorkers that we represent, that racism is unacceptable,” she added. “This colleague must be expelled or at the very, very least, censured.”

Locals continued to criticize Paladino outside her office on Sunday.

Councilmember Vickie Paladino is in hot water once again following comments she made, calling for the deportation of Muslims.  File photo by Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit

“We are here to be fighting for each other, to protect our immigrant communities, and to be standing against bigotry, hate, Islamophobia, anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination,” said Aber Kawas, who is running for the State Assembly in Queens’ 34th District.

Other speakers called for Paladino to be given some kind of punishment for her comments, either in the form of a censure from the Council or from expulsion.

“It is the City Councilwoman's job to help us live together, to thrive together and to not dehumanize and divide us from each other,” said Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. “A leader like Paladino who uses dangerous, racist, bigoted rhetoric must be censured. She has no place in leadership. She has no place in our City Council.”

Paladino appeared to invite censure from her Council colleagues when cornered by reporters at City Hall last week.

“They can censure me if they want, because I really don’t care,” she said. “Let them embarrass themselves.”

In a statement in response to Sunday’s rally, Paladino said she felt everyone was just acting on their right to free speech.

“As far as the protest goes, they have the same right to free speech as everyone else,” she said. “Just as I can speak my mind on social media, they can protest what I say. That’s how it works. It only becomes dangerous when the government tries to shut down free expression in the name of ‘safety’ or politics.”