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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's new housing official, Cea Weaver, said she regretted "some" of her past rhetoric after being called out online.
Weaver, a longtime housing activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), was appointed by Mamdani to serve as director of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants. Since taking office, she has gone viral for several social media posts on her now-deleted X account and a controversial video appearance.
During an interview with Spectrum News NY1, Weaver was asked about the backlash after host Errol Louis noted, "The former mayor, Eric Adams, said you were, quote, 'out of your f---ing mind.' That was in response to a resurfaced tweet from way back when in which you said homeownership was a tool of White supremacy. I wanted to give you a chance to respond. You're not out of your mind, right?"
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"I don't think I'm out of my mind," Weaver replied. "Some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful."
While she did not specify which statements she regrets, Weaver said she aims to tackle "racial inequalities" while serving New Yorkers.
"But, you know, I do think my decades of experience fighting for more affordable housing sort of stands on its own," she said. "I'm proud to be in this role fighting for stronger tenants' rights. And I think that for many years, people have been locked out of the property market, that has produced systemic and racial inequalities in our system."
She added, "I want to make sure that everybody has a safe and affordable place to live - whether they rent or own - and that is something that I'm laser-focused on in this new role."
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Adams posted Tuesday, "Homeownership is how immigrants, Black, Brown, and working-class New Yorkers built stability and generational wealth despite every obstacle. You have to be completely out of your f---ing mind to call that 'White supremacy.' That level of thinking only comes from extreme privilege and total detachment from reality."
The post, shown on screen during the Spectrum News interview, included a screenshot of Weaver's now-deleted statement: "Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of White supremacy masquerading as 'wealth building' public policy."
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