New York Times Dubs Mamdani Appointee Cea Weaver a ‘Firebrand’

We've written a lot about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's choice to be the city's new Tenant Safety Director. Cea Weaver has said in old posts that private property and home ownership are hallmarks of white supremacy. Even former Mayor Eric Adams posted, "You have to be completely out of your f****ing mind to call that 'white supremacy.'" Here she is explaining that white families, especially, will have a "different relationship" to property as the city moves from an individual model of property ownership to a collective one.

NYC Mayor Mamdani's Tenant Director, Cea Weaver:

"We'll transition from treating property as an individual good to a collective good. Whites especially will be impacted." pic.twitter.com/RZSdCs8oEa
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 5, 2026

As we also reported, some people had the foresight to take screenshots of Weaver's social media posts before she deleted her account. "Private property is a weapon of white supremacy," she posted, along with, "gentrification is … part of a centuries-long process of white supremacy." Also, "This country built wealth for white people through genocide, slavery, stolen land, and labor." But as the city's Tenant Safety Director, she's going to fix all of that and move to a more equitable collectivist view of property.

I also posted a video the other day from during Mamdani's campaign, where Weaver said she thought public schools should be "sites of resistance" against ICE and the National Guard, and PTAs should become "networks of defense." She thought that a great model was Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers' Union, which, as I mentioned, said that the pressure to reopen schools during the COVID epidemic was "rooted in sexism, racism, and misogyny."

The New York Times has published a feature on Weaver, and they dub her a "firebrand."

She's just a firebrand, you see. Notable the New York Times doesn't actually quote or link to any of her posts. Just states that others have. https://t.co/gJrPi9eC8C pic.twitter.com/hvlAELZdtp
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 7, 2026

Dana Rubinstein, Sally Goldenberg, and Mihir Zaveri report:

Mayor Zohran Mamdani knew that the activist he planned to tap as his in-house tenant advocate had in past social media posts called homeownership a “weapon of white supremacy” and said that it was important to “impoverish” the white middle class.
That fiery rhetoric had played a role in raising the profile of the advocate, Cea Weaver, within New York housing circles, even as it seemed to hobble her 2021 bid to join the city’s powerful Planning Commission. Her calls to “elect more Communists” and “seize private property” had been well documented in The New York Post.
So when right-wing activists circulated those since-deleted posts from Ms. Weaver this week, Mr. Mamdani was not caught off-guard.
“She was vetted,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani, Dora Pekec, said on Tuesday. “We were aware of all of these tweets."

Of course, he's standing by her lol. She's the closest thing he wants policy-wise.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 7, 2026

If you read the piece, you wouldn't have the first clue what her past comments "on housing" actually were. NY Times readers continue to be the least informed and most misinformed audience in the country.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 7, 2026

Understand that if Cea Weaver spoke about any other race the way she did about white people — the New York Times would be calling her a stone cold racist not a "firebrand" pic.twitter.com/4OXrwLFWWb
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 7, 2026

Similar to how left-wing extremists like Antifa who plan and commit terror attacks are called “activists” in the liberal media.
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) January 7, 2026

Seems like the prestigious institutions of print employ prodigious wordsmiths. pic.twitter.com/es7fUVaUUW
— Pete Panuccio (@PetePanuccio) January 7, 2026

pic.twitter.com/5qaCR0s8J2
— BowTiedChile (@BowTiedChile) January 7, 2026

The "firebrand" defense is my absolute favorite
— EpsteinListDidNotHangItself (@tinleyharrier) January 7, 2026

The NY Times tries to 'whitewash' her outrageous past statements-- that are from the immediate past, not a distant time in high school or college, and doesn't allow comments by readers..
— Jackie PeaceNotWar (@jackiemccaffrey) January 7, 2026

Cea Weaver is the kind of mentally deranged person who must be kept far away from public life. As a lifelong class and race-baiter and Communist of the most rabid Bolshevik ilk, she's as anti-American as they come. Mamdani appointing her speaks volumes. pic.twitter.com/G8d7pcg4rG
— Asymmetrical Information (@convexity888) January 7, 2026

"Heckle rich people." She looked on the verge of tears this morning when she was asked about the $1.6 million home her mother owns in Nashville, Tennessee.

The only controversy they need to mention is that conservatives claim she is controversial. No need to mention anything crazy she's planning to implement.

Let the nyt readers learn what they don't know after it's too late.
— dankbubba, #TRUMP2024 #MAGA (@dank1j) January 7, 2026

Yes, you noticed that conservatives pounced on her old tweets.

It looks like the Times got the message and changed "firebrand" to "activist," which is still far from "racist" and "communist."