Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, has recently appointed a new renters’ advocate who is stirring controversy due to past contentious remarks. Cea Weaver, known for her progressive stance on housing reform, has been selected to lead the city’s Office to Protect Tenants as Mamdani begins his tenure.

Weaver, who is 37, has pledged to usher in an era focused on advocating for tenants’ rights and ensuring they have access to secure, stable, and affordable housing. However, her previous statements on social media have raised eyebrows and are now under intense scrutiny.

Critics have resurfaced a series of provocative tweets from Weaver’s now-deleted X account. These posts reveal her contentious views, including a call to “impoverish the white middle-class” and assertions that homeownership is both “racist” and a “failed public policy.”

Among her more controversial ideas, Weaver has suggested the need to “seize private property” and has made claims linking homeownership with “white supremacy.” These comments have sparked debate about her suitability for the role and her vision for housing justice in the city.

Weaver’s tweets saw her call to ‘impoverish the white middle-class’ and brand homeownership as ‘racist’ and ‘failed public policy.’

She called to ‘seize private property’ and even made a racial claim that ‘homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy.’

Weaver further urged officials to endorse a platform banning white men from running for office, as well as reality TV stars. 

The controversial tweets were posted between 2017 and 2019. It is unclear if Weaver, who most recently served as the executive director of two organizations that advocate for tenant protections, still shares these viewpoints today.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed tenant advocate Cea Weaver (pictured together) as director of the newly revitalized Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants

The 37-year-old is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and served as a policy advisor on Mamdani’s mayoral campaign

‘Private property, including and kind of especially homeownership, is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as “wealth building” public policy,’ Weaver wrote in August 2019.

Two years prior, she claimed that America ‘built wealth for white people through genocide, slavery, stolen land and labor.’

She also encouraged voters to ‘elect more communists,’ just months after she called for the endorsement of a ‘no more white men in office platform.’ 

In addition to the resurfaced tweets, video of Weaver talking about the housing market has also gone viral.

In the short clip, which is believed to have been recorded for a podcast interview in 2022, the tenant advocate suggested a change in homeownership is soon to come.

‘I think the reality is, that for centuries we’ve really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good,’ she said.

‘And transitioning to 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 families – especially white families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well – are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.’

Weaver has come under fire over a slew of resurfaced social media posts from her since deleted X account that appeared to target white people

Video of Weaver talking about the housing market in 2022 has also gone viral. She argued that society was ‘transitioning to treating private property as a collective good,’ which she added would impacted white families

Weaver, whom Mamdani referred to as a ‘friend’, was appointed to her role under one of three executive orders the new mayor signed on his first day in office.

The order named her boss of the newly revitalized Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. 

Weaver, who holds a master’s degree in urban planning, currently serves as the executive director of Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc.

She advocated for and played a key role in the passing of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which aimed to expand tenants’ rights across the state of New York.

The law strengthened rent stabilization, made it harder for landlords to raise rents sharply, and imposed restrictions of landlord actions, such as evictions. It also capped housing application fees to $20 and limited security deposits to one month’s rent.

Weaver is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, like Mamdani, and served as a policy adviser on the NYC mayor’s campaign. 

She grew up in Rochester and now lives in Brooklyn. Weaver was named one of Crain’s New York’s 40 Under 40 last year. 

Mamdani said that he and Weaver will ‘stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city’

‘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 on January 1 as he announced Weaver’s new role.

‘You cannot hold landlords who violate the law to account unless you have a proven principled and tireless fighter at the helm. That is why I am proud today to announce my friend Cea Weaver as the Director of the newly reinvigorated Mayor’s office to protect tenants.’

Weaver said that she was ‘humbled and honored’ to join his administration and ‘stand with him on his very first day in office as he makes clear where his priorities lie: with the millions of tenants in New York City who have been mistreated for too long by negligent landlords.’

‘Our work will only grow and this newly revitalized office marks a new era of standing up for tenants and fighting for safe, stable, and affordable homes,’ she added.

Deputy mayor for housing and planning, Leila Bozorg, branded Weaver a ‘powerhouse for tenants’ rights’ and said she was excited to see the ‘innovation she brings to this new role.’