Resurfaced social media posts from Cea Weaver, a longtime tenant organiser recently appointed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have created fresh political controverst, placing the city’s new tenant protections leadership under scrutiny just days into the administration.
Weaver, who now serves as director of the newly revitalised Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, is facing criticism after old posts comparing homeownership and private property to white supremacy began circulating online.
Resurfaced tweets
The controversy centers on a post Weaver shared in August 2019 on the platform then known as Twitter. In the post, she wrote, “Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.”
The comment was recently amplified by the MAGA-aligned accounts saying, “Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate director thinks home ownership and private property is white supremacy.” Weaver’s X account has since been deactivated.
Appointment comes days into Mamdani’s mayoral term
Weaver was appointed in January 2026 by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office on January 1 after running a campaign rooted in democratic socialist ideals. Announcing her appointment on January 2, Mamdani praised Weaver’s track record in tenant advocacy, stating, “she helped pass the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, landmark legislation that closed loopholes landlords used to raise rents and push apartments out of stabilisation.”
As part of the mayor’s team, Weaver will, according to Mamdani, “work with us to hold landlords accountable and ensure New York City tenants are living in safe, clean homes.”
Who is Cea Weaver?
Cea Weaver is an American urban planner and prominent tenant rights activist based in New York City. She was born in Rochester, New York and earned a B.A. in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College in 2010 and later completed a master’s degree in Urban Planning from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School in 2014.
Her activism began in the aftermath of the 2008 foreclosure crisis, when she became involved in tenant organizing across New York City. She went on to help form groups such as the Crown Heights Tenant Union and later coordinated Housing Justice for All, a statewide tenant movement.
Weaver emerged as a key figure in the push for New York’s 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which strengthened rent regulations by limiting rent increases, curbing vacancy decontrol, and closing loopholes that landlords had used to remove apartments from rent stabilisation.
She has also led the New York State Tenant Bloc, an organization focused on advancing pro-tenant legislation and building political power among renters across the state.
A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Weaver has been an outspoken critic of real estate speculation and private property-driven housing models. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she supported rent strikes and argued for housing to be treated as a community right rather than an investment asset.