New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly distanced himself from past statements made by one of his top housing officials that described home ownership as a �weapon of white supremacy,� as scrutiny mounts over the official�s rhetoric and record.

Mamdani addressed the controversy during an interview with PIX11 anchor Henry Rosoff, after Rosoff pressed him on comments made years earlier by Cea Weaver, Mamdani�s pick to lead the Mayor�s Office to Protect Tenants.

Weaver has faced criticism over resurfaced posts from a now-deleted X account. In a 2017 post, she wrote that �home ownership� is a �weapon of white supremacy.� In another post the following year, she declared, �There is no such thing as a �good� gentrifier, only people who are actively working on projects to dismantle white supremacy and capitalism and people who aren�t.�

The remarks have drawn renewed attention after New York Post reported this week that Weaver broke down in tears when questioned about a $1.6 million home owned by her mother in Nashville, Tennessee.

In a separate interview with Spectrum News, Weaver said she regretted �some� of her past statements after former Mayor Eric Adams accused her of being �out of her mind.�

�I don�t think I�m out of my mind,� Weaver said. �Some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful.�

Pressed by Rosoff on whether he agreed with Weaver�s framing of landlords or homeowners as linked to white supremacy, Mamdani rejected the substance of the comments while making clear he would keep her in the role.

�Obviously, that�s not an opinion that I share,� Mamdani said. �And I made the decision to have her as our executive director of the mayor�s office to protect tenants, not because of her comments, but because of her work.�

The mayor went on to praise Weaver�s record, saying she has delivered �significant victories for tenants� both in New York City and statewide, and described her as a key figure in building coalitions between upstate and downstate housing advocates.

�We�ve seen her already hard at work in this past week,� Mamdani added.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)