Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood by his appointment of Afua Atta-Mensah as chief fairness officer after her resurfaced social media posts drew criticism, saying his vetting workforce had reviewed the fabric earlier than she was named to the publish.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Monday, Jan. 19, marks the nineteenth day of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace as we intently observe his progress on fulfilling marketing campaign guarantees, appointing key leaders to authorities posts, and managing the town’s funds. Right here’s a abstract of what the mayor did at the moment.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood by his appointment of Afua Atta-Mensah as chief fairness officer after her resurfaced social media posts drew criticism, saying his vetting workforce had reviewed the fabric earlier than she was named to the publish.
“This vetting process is one that presents all this information to us in advance of any hiring decisions,” Mamdani stated on Monday at a press convention within the Bronx.
He added that Atta-Mensah “has built a career where she has been dedicated to New Yorkers who have often not been thought of within the corridors of power at the city level or the state level or the federal level.”
“She has, frankly, been a brilliant addition to not only our campaign, our transition, but now also our administration,” Mamdani stated. “And I have the utmost confidence in her ability to fulfill the mission to make this a city that each and every New Yorker can afford.”
The posts, which included complaints about liberal white ladies, had been unearthed by the New York Younger Republicans Membership and first reported by the New York Publish. In a 2021 publish concerning the HBO present Succession, Atta-Mensah agreed with a thread that folks like these depicted within the present should be taxed “to the white meat.”
The resurfaced tweets are the most recent in a saga surrounding appointees to the Mamdani administration. The mayor’s decide to steer the town’s revitalized Workplace to Defend Tenants, Cea Weaver, drew criticism after resurfaced social media posts criticized homeownership and referred to as for decreasing white middle-class wealth, however, like Atta-Mensah, Mamdani stood by her.
One other appointee, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned earlier this month after decade-old social media posts emerged that included antisemitic language and criticism of the New York Police Division. Gothamist lately reported that Da Costa’s appointment was rushed and that she didn’t full a crucial inner vetting step that doubtless would have uncovered her outdated posts referring to “money-hungry Jews.”
Housing: Simply Residence housing undertaking revived within the Bronx
Mayor Mamdani additionally introduced on Monday the reactivation of Simply Residence, a supportive housing undertaking on the Jacobi Hospital campus for individuals exiting incarceration who’ve critical medical wants.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Mamdani made the remarks whereas asserting the reactivation of Simply Residence, a supportive housing undertaking on the Jacobi Hospital campus for individuals exiting incarceration who’ve critical medical wants.
“As we reactivate the Just Home supportive housing project, we are not simply creating 83 new apartments and supporting those who are struggling,” Mamdani stated. “We are advancing the cause of justice.”
The undertaking was authorised by the Metropolis Council final summer season after years of contentious debate and after former Mayor Eric Adams withdrew his help, regardless of initially backing the plan in 2022. The council authorised a 99-year sublease of a vacant hospital constructing to the nonprofit Fortune Society, which is able to function the event.
Simply Residence will embrace 82 residences, 58 of them supportive models with on-site companies and medical care. The remaining models might be designated as inexpensive housing.
Mamdani acknowledged the problem of transferring even comparatively small housing developments ahead in New York Metropolis.
“Even to build 83 units in this city has taken so much struggle,” he stated. “It should not be that way.”
He reiterated his broader housing agenda, saying the administration intends to ship on a marketing campaign pledge to dramatically broaden inexpensive housing.
“We said over the course of the campaign that we wanted to build 200,000 truly affordable homes over the next 10 years,” Mamdani stated. “We absolutely intend to fulfill that.”
Throughout Monday’s press convention, the mayor was requested about his administration’s failed effort to dam the sale of hundreds of rent-stabilized residences in Brooklyn tied to the bankrupt Pinnacle Group, an intervention he undertook on the primary day of his administration.
Hours after his Jan. 1 inauguration, Mamdani directed metropolis legal professionals to intervene within the federal chapter proceedings overseeing the sale, arguing the switch shouldn’t proceed with out stronger tenant protections and enforceable commitments to handle longstanding disrepair.
A decide in the end authorised the sale final week, handing the administration an early court docket loss.
Mamdani on Monday rejected the characterization of the trouble as a failure, pointing as a substitute to concessions secured from the brand new proprietor.
After assembly with tenants, together with one lady who confirmed him rusted fixtures and described dwelling with extreme constructing violations for many years, Mamdani stated the client dedicated to $30 million in repairs and to correcting excellent violations.
“I consider that to be a victory,” Mamdani stated. “I consider it to be an example of what it can look like when you have an administration that looks to use every tool at its disposal to make a case for those that the corridors of power have often overlooked.”
