Christopher Columbus wasn’t actually Italian? Paesan-NO.

Italian Americans and visitors to the Columbus Day parade on Monday brazenly dismissed claims that new DNA evidence shows the controversial explorer was a Sephardic Jew, likely from Spain.

“We don’t care,” said Cherie Corso, who attended the Manhattan parade with an Italian flag around her neck.

“He will always be Italian.”

Corso wasn’t the only one cutting the new claims into pieces as if they were a cold antipasto.

Everyone from the mayor of Genoa to Italian-American heritage groups agreed: They don’t care what the DNA says, Columbus was as Italian as spaghetti.

The debate began with a new study that undermined the widely held but not universally accepted theory that Columbus originated from Genoa, an independent republic on the northwest coast of Italy, before setting out on behalf of Spain in 1492 and “discovering” the New World.

Spanish researchers extracted DNA from the bones of Columbus’ corpse, which showed he had Sephardic ancestry, suggesting he was born in Spain and hid his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to avoid religious persecution, the report said. BBC.

But participants in the Columbus Day parade, where thousands donned the colors of the Italian flag as they danced, waved flags and marched along Fifth Avenue, didn’t seem to care.

“I don’t care as long as we celebrate it,” said Diane di Stazzio, who marched with a giant Italian flag. ‘Cause I mean, if he’s Jewish, that’s great, but he’s still Italian. Italian Jewish.”

Cindy Trimble, who came from Cold Spring for the parade, said she was glad the Columbus Day parade wasn’t canceled altogether amid disagreements over the explorer’s cruel actions toward native Caribbeans, including sending hundreds of people into slavery.

“I’m also a strange combination: I’m Sicilian and my mother is Swedish,” she said. “So as long as we celebrate Columbus!”

“He discovered America so he can be whatever he wants,” said an Italian tourist during the parade.

The National Italian American Foundation, which supports a Columbus Day holiday as “a source of dignity and self-esteem for Italian Americans,” argued that the genetic study is not the whole historical story.

“NIAF adheres to the statement of Mayor Marco Bucci of Genoa, which reads: ‘The State Archives of Genoa preserves dozens of documents, mainly letters and notarial deeds, that allow us to confirm Columbus’s Genoese origins and reconstruct his entourage. No DNA test will ever surpass historical documentation,” read a statement from the group.