New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts during a press conference at Grand Army Plaza in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
(New York, New York) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate is facing scrutiny after resurfaced social media posts showed her previously calling for the seizure of private property and labeling homeownership a tool of “white supremacy.”
Cea Weaver, who Mamdani named director of the city’s Office to Protect Tenants, made the remarks in a series of posts on X between 2017 and 2020 that were recently unearthed by online users. The posts, which have since been deleted, included statements urging followers to “seize private property” and to “elect more communists.”
In a 2019 post, Weaver wrote that private property – “especially homeownership” – was a “weapon of white supremacy.” She also sharply criticized law enforcement during the unrest following the death of George Floyd, writing in 2020 that police are “people the state sanctions to murder with immunity.”
Weaver is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and previously worked as a campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All. She also served as an adviser to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and played a role in lobbying for tighter rent stabilization laws passed by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature in 2019.
Property owners and housing advocates criticized the appointment, arguing that Weaver’s past rhetoric reflects hostility toward landlords and private ownership. Humberto Lopes, founder and CEO of the Gotham Housing Alliance, questioned how housing development could function without private landlords, pointing to the long-standing struggles of the New York City Housing Authority as a warning.
The controversy comes as Mamdani advances an aggressive tenant-focused agenda, including a proposal to freeze rents on roughly one million rent-regulated apartments – a move that would require approval from the city’s Rent Guidelines Board.
Mamdani’s office and Weaver did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Sunday, Mamdani also announced the appointment of Dina Levy as commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Levy previously served as a senior vice president at New York’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal.
Appearing with Levy at a Bronx press conference, Mamdani praised her experience and said she would play a key role in addressing the city’s housing crisis. The mayor also signed an executive order directing multiple city agencies to hold so-called “Rental Ripoff” hearings across the five boroughs during his first 100 days in office, allowing tenants to raise concerns about landlords and housing conditions.
Levy said she began her career as a tenant advocate and acknowledged the challenges ahead, noting that enforcement of housing maintenance standards will remain a central mission of her agency.
