MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor stands by tenant advocate pick after social media post backlash

Wednesday, Jan. 7, marks the seventh day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday defended his pick to lead the city’s revitalized Office to Protect Tenants after past social media posts resurfaced in which the appointee criticized homeownership and called for reducing white middle-class wealth.

It comes after another of Mamdani’s appointees, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned after old social media posts surfaced that contained antisemitic statements and criticism of the NYPD.

“My focus as Mayor of New York City is to deliver stability, and we know one critical pathway to that stability is homeownership, and I am frankly so grateful to have so many of my former and now current coworkers,” Mamdani said in response to reporters’ questions at an unrelated press conference in Queens.

Asked about vetting appointees’ social media histories, Mamdani said he stood by Cea Weaver, pointing to her record of tenant advocacy.

“I accepted Da Costa’s resignation. Cea Weaver is someone that we hired to stand up for tenants across the city based on the track record that she had for standing up for tenants across the city and the state,” Mamdani said. “And frankly, if you look at the past few days at the work she has done as part of our larger city government approach to the housing crisis in the city you can already see results, the kind of which you haven’t seen for the past few years.”

“The core issue at hand here is, what are we hiring this person to do,” he added. “We are hiring them to stand up for tenants in a way that we haven’t seen before, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

Weaver, a nationally recognized tenant organizer and housing advocate, has faced a slew of criticism from mostly conservative pundits after social media posts written before 2020 and later removed resurfaced.

In the posts, she described homeownership as a “tool of white supremacy” and argued that the white middle class should be “made poorer.”

Shortly after the posts began circulating, former Mayor Eric Adams was among those critical of her views, writing online that Weaver was “out of her f***ing mind.”

In response, Weaver told NY1 that she would not use the same language today.

“I don’t think I’m out of my mind,” she said. “Some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful. But I do think my decades of experience fighting for more affordable housing stand on their own. I’m proud to be in this role fighting for stronger tenants’ rights.”

“For many years, people have been locked out of the property market — that has produced a lot of systemic and racial inequalities in our system,” Weaver said. “And I want to make sure that everyone has a safe and affordable place to live, whether they rent or own, and that is something I am laser-focused on in this new role.”

Morris Katz, who served as a senior adviser and strategist during Mamdani’s election campaign, also backed Weaver in a post on X Wednesday, saying New York “is lucky to have her serving in city government.”

“Cea Weaver has worked tirelessly to address the housing crisis, protect tenants from bad landlords, and to win a city where no one has to choose between a roof over their head or staying in the place they love,” Katz said.

Appointments: Affordability and Human Rights

Christine Clarke speaks after Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed her chair and commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Additionally, on Wednesday, Mayor Mamdani made two more appointments.

He named Christine Clarke as chair of the Commission on Human Rights to oversee enforcement of the city’s Human Rights Law. She will report to Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su.

Clarke is the Chief of Litigation and Advocacy and a member of the executive team at Legal Services NYC, the country’s largest civil legal services organization, which provides legal assistance to more than 100,000 low-income New Yorkers each year, according to the administration.

She has represented residents in cases involving housing subsidies for elderly and disabled tenants, access to residential water services, language access for NYCHA tenants, workplace discrimination, domestic violence-related housing and employment disputes, and disability accommodations.

“She has spent her career fighting for working people and using the law as a powerful tool to confront inequity. In the midst of an affordability crisis, Christine will ensure the Commission enforces the law to protect New Yorkers and helps build the city we deserve,” said Mayor Mamdani.

Mamdani also named Simonia Brown, a veteran of New York City and state government, as Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy. In the role, Mamdani said Brown will work with partners in Albany to advance the mayor’s affordability agenda and will report to the First Deputy Mayor.

Brown has more than two decades of experience in government, advising elected officials and negotiating key policy and budget issues. Under Mayor Bill de Blasio, she served as director of the city’s State Legislative Affairs Office, overseeing the city’s legislative and budgetary agenda. She also worked at the Office of Management and Budget, where she managed budgets for the Department of Education, the City University of New York, and the city’s 59 community boards, and led the city’s intergovernmental relations unit.

At the state level, Brown held several positions in the New York State Assembly, advising the speaker and assembly leadership, directing budget analysis, developing policy initiatives, and leading negotiations on budget and policy matters.

She more recently serves as Assistant Deputy Comptroller at the Office of the State Comptroller, overseeing local government and school district finances, including the distribution of more than $1 billion annually and statewide fiscal stress monitoring.