Newly sworn-in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist who took office on January 1, has appointed longtime tenant advocate Cea Weaver to lead the newly revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.
This decision has faced significant criticism due to resurfaced tweets and video clips from the past, in which Weaver makes radical claims linking homeownership to white supremacy. She suggests that white families will need to have a fundamentally different “relationship” to property in the future.
Weaver, herself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, was praised by Mamdani for her role in passing the 2019 Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act, which allegedly aimed to curb landlord practices that allegedly drove up rent prices.
In an official announcement, Mamdani said that Weaver would work with him to hold landlords accountable and ensure that New York City tenants live in safe, clean homes.
“Today, on the first day of this new administration, on the day where so many rent payments are due, we will not wait to deliver action. We will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city,” Mamdani said in the announcement.
For perspective, New York City ranks as the most expensive place to rent an apartment in the United States, with the average one-bedroom apartment costing $5,812 per month – a staggering 41% increase year-over-year, per data from ApartmentGuide.com.
Now, some voices on social media have highlighted past comments from Weaver that connect homeownership with “white supremacy,” raising questions about how these radical views might influence housing policies.
In an August 2019 post on her now-deleted X account, Weaver wrote: “Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.” The post was found, and reshared with the public via X account LibsOfTikTok.
Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate director thinks home ownership and private property is white supremacy pic.twitter.com/eIHPSGzRet
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 5, 2026
Weaver’s X account has since been deactivated, but the post has fueled online backlash.
Another resurfaced clip, shared by the EndWokeness account, features Weaver speaking in somewhat of a “word salad” style, vaguely describing a shift of viewing property as an “individualized good” to a “collective good.”
In the video, she goes on to say: “I think reality is that for centuries we really treated, um, property as an individualized good and not a collective good and we are transitioning into treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity, will require that we think about it differently, and it will mean, that um, families, especially white families… are gonna have a different relationship to property than we currently have.”
NYC Mayor Mamdani's Tenant Director, Cea Weaver:
"We'll transition from treating property as an individual good to a collective good. Whites especially will be impacted." pic.twitter.com/RZSdCs8oEa
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 5, 2026
Adding to the scrutiny, according to a June 13, 2018, post found by Newsweek, Weaver would even go so far as to say: “Seize private property!”
Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary last year, spoke a bit about his political stance in his January 1 inauguration speech at City Hall, saying, “We will govern without shame and insecurity, making no apology for what we believe. I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
Reactions on social media to Mamdani and his team’s view on property ownership have been loud.
Conservative posters like PNWConservative would quickly call Weaver a “Commie” and warn of threats to private property under her umbrella of power.
Commie Cea Weaver is Mamdani’s new NYC tenant advocate.
She wants to seize YOUR private property.
And branded home ownership as “white supremacy”.
Careful people, the insufferable liberal white women are getting more influence. pic.twitter.com/Sd4B20w7Tl
— PNW Conservative (@PNWConservative) January 5, 2026
Looking ahead, Mamdani has pledged to create new strategies to make housing more affordable in America’s most expensive city, including a potential rent freeze for 1 million regulated apartments – though some New Yorkers may question his authority to implement that potential freeze.
Weaver, in a Bluesky post last year, advocated for such a freeze as a direct mayoral action that she claims would “benefit” 2.4 million renters.
“There are lots of things the mayor CANT do on housing, but freezing the rent is one of the only things they can unilaterally do for 2.4 million New York renters. Policy plans are great, so is a rent freeze,” Weaver wrote back in January of 2025.
Mamdani and his team’s plans are designed to tackle New York’s housing crisis. However, Weaver’s previous statements appear to complicate efforts to build consensus. Many people view homeownership as vital for economic mobility and a key aspect of the “American dream,” rather than a means of promoting racial supremacy.
Weaver and Mamdani’s office did not respond to DX‘s requests for comment on the resurfaced remarks as of press time.
