Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s panda-monium could be coming to an end.
The veteran congresswoman has spent her time in office pushing to bring pandas to the Central Park Zoo, following a 2014 trip to China — but after Tuesday’s primary, she could find herself out of a job.
“I fell in love with Han Han,” she told The Post, referring to the beast that sparked her bizarre obsession.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney had vowed to bring Han Han the panda to Central Park Zoo since 2014.
“He’s the perfect age. He grabbed my hand! He held my hand!”
Two years later, the embattled Democratic incumbent — who faces a tough race for the newly drawn 12th Congressional District against Rep. Jerrold Nadler and attorney Suraj Patel — told the New York Times, “After the financial crisis, 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, it’s about time to have something happy.
“Let’s have a panda.”
But to this day, Maloney, who sought to bring Han Han to the Big Apple to procreate, has failed to make good on her quest.
Chinese officials do not part with the endangered furries easily and their upkeep would likely cost a zoo millions of dollars per year at minimum, the Times reported.
And then there was the pushback she got from conservationists, like the Wildlife Conservation Society, which appealed to City Hall to kill her mission.
“I think a statement saying that we appreciate her passion but we are not interested in pandas would be helpful,” the official said, the Times reported.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney speaks to voters on the Upper East Side on Aug. 22, 2022. Spencer Platt/Getty Images“Clearly she doesn’t hear it when we say it to her respectfully.”
Central Park Zoo workers weren’t convinced, either.
“Where would they go? They would be encroaching on the space of the snow leopards, and that’s our biggest attraction,” a Central Park Zoo worker told The Post in 2016.
While City Hall reportedly balked at supporting her efforts, Maloney continued courting support on both sides of the Pacific.
She attended events held by Chinese officials in New York City and Washington, DC, such as the 2016 “Panda Night” at the official embassy of the communist authoritarian nation, who Maloney has criticized over human rights violations in place like Hong Kong, the Daily Beast reported earlier this summer.
Big names like former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and grocery magnate John Catsimatidis got involved by forming a nonprofit called The Pandas Are Coming to NYC, according to The Daily Beast.
Success with pandas would have been another accomplishment in the storied congressional career of the House Oversight Committee chair, who played big roles in delivering federal support for 9/11 survivors and the Second Avenue subway since first winning election in 1992.
Yet some political insiders say her pursuit of pandas was among the topics that undermined her politically, along with her past comments about vaccines and theatrical flourishes — like the time she donned a burqa on the House floor.
“She’s a gimmick politician,” one Manhattan Democrat told The Post earlier in the campaign.
“Whether it’s wearing an FDNY jacket or, my gosh, promoting pandas in Central Park. Everything is a gimmick. And it doesn’t go any deeper than that. I’m not saying she’s a bad person. I just think she’s extremely shallow and not thoughtful.”
Rep. Carolyn Maloney is facing a bitter battle against Rep. Jerry Nadler. Robert MillerWhile the panda effort came close to succeeding in later years, Maloney has never managed to seal the deal — and a loss Tuesday night would mean she loses the congressional power to help make her dream a reality.
Nadler appears to have the edge going into the final day of voting — with an Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill poll released last week showing him with 43% support compared to 24% for Maloney and 14% for Patel.
A recent endorsement by US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently endorsed Nadler while hardly taking the fighting spirit out of Maloney, who has leaned on her legacy as a feminist warrior in her campaign against Nadler.
“We are leaving it ALL on the field,” she tweeted Tuesday.
A Maloney campaign spokesman declined to comment to The Post Tuesday.





