Two leaders of New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America have drawn scrutiny over their personal real estate holdings, with one tied to a multimillion-dollar Manhattan property sale and another owning a Brooklyn apartment valued at about $500,000, The Post has learned.
Olivia Gonzalez Killingsworth, the group’s labor coordinator, sold a high-end triplex in an Upper West Side brownstone for $2.4 million on Sept. 12, 2022, public records show.
The two-bedroom, three-bathroom home, described in its listing as “huge” and “versatile,” sits just one block from Central Park and features 10-foot ceilings, a fireplace, marble shower stalls and bay windows overlooking the Callery pear trees that line the street.
“Once again we’re finding out why DSA actually stands for Daddy’s Savings Account. Selling a multimillion-dollar Manhattan Triplex to go play pretend bohemian with your rich comrades in Brooklyn is a luxury working-class New Yorkers will never have,” said NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens).
Killingsworth, who was elected labor coordinator in 2025, operates her own bookkeeping business and also works as an actor and singer, according to her website.
She inherited the Upper West Side triplex from her aunt, Elizabeth, who died in 2018, and later used proceeds from the sale to buy a one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment for roughly half a million dollars, according to Healthbeat and public records.
Killingsworth purchased the Brooklyn unit for $521,000 on Sept. 14, 2022 — two days after she and her relatives completed the triplex sale.
Julie Swoope, chair of the DSA Steering Committee, also owns a fully paid-off one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn valued at about $500,000.
The $510,000 one-bedroom co-op located blocks away from Prospect Park boasts of high ceilings, skyline views and great closet space, per its Streeteasy profile.
It was purchased in 2021, according to public records.
Swoope’s mother, Gail Cunningham Swoope, was an artist who traveled for three years on her “live-aboard sailboat” and was a member of the New Smyrna Beach Boat and Ski Club, according to her obituary.
Both apartments are over $100,000 above the average home price in the United States, which is $387,400, according to 2026 US Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.
Nearly 70% of NYC residents are renters, leaving the two socialists woefully out of step with the needs of the working-class people they claim to represent, critics said.
The two women join NYC DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo as part of Gotham’s socialist landed gentry.
Gustavo, who was booted from the electricians union after ghosting his employer, was gifted a $1.5 million Bed-Stuy townhouse by his telecommunications millionaire father.
The revelations about the Yale-educated sculptor have rattled the secretive organization and his days may be numbered, the source close to the organization told The Post.
“They’re like babies opening their eyes for the first time, and everything’s blurry. Many of them have never worked a job before and now they’re realizing if they want to be a player in New York, people are going to ask them questions,” he said.
Swoope has come to Gordillo’s defense on X.
“Charges of hypocrisy against Gustavo or any DSA member who has comfortable financial background are dumb. It’s not hypocritical to want others to enjoy the economic security that you do,” Swoope posted.
Killingsworth told The Post she inherited the triplex from her aunt after she died, and because of this, has “the privilege of stable housing, something that should be guaranteed to every New Yorker.” Swoope said she was able to become a private property owner and build a family, “after living in a rent stabilized apartment.”
