Monday, Jan. 19, marks the nineteenth 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 stood by his appointment of Afua Atta-Mensah as chief equity officer after her resurfaced social media posts drew criticism, saying his vetting team had reviewed the material before she was named to the post.
“This vetting process is one that presents all this information to us in advance of any hiring decisions,” Mamdani said on Monday at a press conference in the Bronx.
He added that Atta-Mensah “has built a career where she has been dedicated to New Yorkers who have often not been thought of within the corridors of power at the city level or the state level or the federal level.”
“She has, frankly, been a brilliant addition to not only our campaign, our transition, but now also our administration,” Mamdani said. “And I have the utmost confidence in her ability to fulfill the mission to make this a city that each and every New Yorker can afford.”
The posts, which included complaints about liberal white women, were unearthed by the New York Young Republicans Club and first reported by the New York Post. In a 2021 post about the HBO show Succession, Atta-Mensah agreed with a thread that people like those depicted in the show ought to be taxed “to the white meat.”
The resurfaced tweets are the latest in a saga surrounding appointees to the Mamdani administration. The mayor’s pick to lead the city’s revitalized Office to Protect Tenants, Cea Weaver, drew criticism after resurfaced social media posts criticized homeownership and called for reducing white middle-class wealth, but, like Atta-Mensah, Mamdani stood by her.
Another appointee, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned earlier this month after decade-old social media posts emerged that included antisemitic language and criticism of the New York Police Department. Gothamist recently reported that Da Costa’s appointment was rushed and that she did not complete a critical internal vetting step that likely would have uncovered her old posts referring to “money-hungry Jews.”
Housing: Just Home housing project revived in the Bronx
Mamdani made the remarks while announcing the reactivation of Just Home, a supportive housing project on the Jacobi Hospital campus for people exiting incarceration who have serious medical needs.
“As we reactivate the Just Home supportive housing project, we are not simply creating 83 new apartments and supporting those who are struggling,” Mamdani said. “We are advancing the cause of justice.”
The project was approved by the City Council last summer after years of contentious debate and after former Mayor Eric Adams withdrew his support, despite initially backing the plan in 2022. The council approved a 99-year sublease of a vacant hospital building to the nonprofit Fortune Society, which will operate the development.
Just Home will include 82 apartments, 58 of them supportive units with on-site services and medical care. The remaining units will be designated as affordable housing.
Mamdani acknowledged the difficulty of moving even relatively small housing developments forward in New York City.
“Even to build 83 units in this city has taken so much struggle,” he said. “It should not be that way.”
He reiterated his broader housing agenda, saying the administration intends to deliver on a campaign pledge to dramatically expand affordable housing.
“We said over the course of the campaign that we wanted to build 200,000 truly affordable homes over the next 10 years,” Mamdani said. “We absolutely intend to fulfill that.”
Stanley Richards, president and CEO of the Fortune Society, the nonprofit that will run the site, said at Monday’s conference that providing stability for medically fragile New Yorkers returning from incarceration not only fulfills a humanitarian duty but also strengthens communities. “When people have stable housing and robust support, they are far more likely to become positive contributing neighbors,” he said.
“Right now, too many people are stuck in shelters, on the streets, or even on Rikers Island because there is nowhere safe and stable for them to go. Once this building is renovated, it will provide a mix of permanent and supportive housing with on-site case management, care management, and wraparound services under one roof. This model is rooted in what the Fortune Society has experienced over decades of providing services in New York City,” said Richards.
Helen Taylor, a current resident of Fortune Society supportive housing, shared her firsthand experience, saying supportive housing saved her life. Taylor described her apartment as far more than just a roof over her head, but something that provides structure, access to care, and a sense of community that has been essential to her recovery and independence. She said that her experience shouldn’t be unique. “Everyone should have access to supportive housing. Access to the life they want and deserve to live—a life of health, safety, and dignity,” she said
During Monday’s press conference, the mayor was asked about his administration’s failed effort to block the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments in Brooklyn tied to the bankrupt Pinnacle Group, an intervention he undertook on the first day of his administration.
Hours after his Jan. 1 inauguration, Mamdani directed city lawyers to intervene in the federal bankruptcy proceedings overseeing the sale, arguing the transfer should not proceed without stronger tenant protections and enforceable commitments to address longstanding disrepair.
A judge ultimately approved the sale last week, handing the administration an early court loss.
Mamdani on Monday rejected the characterization of the effort as a failure, pointing instead to concessions secured from the new owner.
After meeting with tenants, including one woman who showed him rusted fixtures and described living with severe building violations for decades, Mamdani said the buyer committed to $30 million in repairs and to correcting outstanding violations.
“I consider that to be a victory,” Mamdani said. “I consider it to be an example of what it can look like when you have an administration that looks to use every tool at its disposal to make a case for those that the corridors of power have often overlooked.”
