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A few years before Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Cea Weaver to run his Office to Protect Tenants, Democratic Assemblyman Kalman Yeger says the NYC Council signaled it would not confirm her for an influential city planning commission because she was too radical.
Mamdani has not pulled Weaver’s appointment amid some of the same concerns city council members had back in 2021, including resurfaced comments she made calling homeownership a “weapon of white supremacy” and arguments that property should be treated as a “collective good.”
“Guess it’s easier to name a communist to a position that doesn’t require confirmation,” Yeger said amid the controversy surrounding Weaver. “Four years ago, her name was submitted for City Council confirmation to the City Planning Commission. Enough of us made clear we would not confirm her nomination and forced its withdrawal.”
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The New York Democrat noted in an interview with Fox News Digital that Weaver’s appointment to the city’s planning commission, which was made by New York City’s Public Advocate, would typically not be controversial, but in light of Weaver’s past comments from between 2017 and 2021, which had been made much more recently at the time, the city council pressured the Public Advocate to drop Weaver’s nomination, which she claims she withdrew herself.
“We learned a little more about this person and I guess from my perspective, it was some of the more out-there comments, not just a political philosophy per se, but the things she’s actually said verbatim,” Yeger told Fox News Digital as he recalled the discontent that led to Weaver’s nomination being withdrawn. “Things like homeownership is white supremacy – I think that’s just ridiculous and, to be quite frank, I think it would surprise a lot of my Black, Latino and Caribbean-American constituents who have struggled their entire lives to buy a piece of New York and are raising middle-class families in my community to find out that they’re participating in white supremacy by doing so.”
Yeger said he could not recall exactly how many city council members opposed Weaver’s nomination, but did indicate that it was a “good number of members of the council.” He added that some folks on the council were not just concerned about her comments either. Yeger also said some were concerned about the far-left organizations she has worked with in the past as well.
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Amid the controversy over her comments, Weaver said she regretted “some” of her past comments but did not specify which ones.
Weaver, a longtime housing activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), was asked about the backlash, including from former Democratic NYC Mayor Eric Adams who called her “out of [her] f—ing mind,” on Spectrum News NY1.
“I don’t think I’m out of my mind,” Weaver replied. “Some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful.”
While she did not specify which statements she regrets, Weaver said she aims to tackle “racial inequalities” while serving New Yorkers.
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“But, you know, I do think my decades of experience fighting for more affordable housing sort of stands on its own,” Weaver said. “I’m proud to be in this role fighting for stronger tenants’ rights. And I think that for many years, people have been locked out of the property market, that has produced systemic and racial inequalities in our system.”
“I want to make sure that everybody has a safe and affordable place to live — whether they rent or own,” she added. “And that is something that I’m laser-focused on in this new role.”
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
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