National Review excoriates mayor for appointing radical tenant advocate Cea Weaver
Housing Director’s Social Media History Ignites Conservative Firestorm
National Review published a scathing critique of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s appointment of Cea Weaver to lead the Office to Protect Tenants, highlighting her defiantly anti-market housing ideology. The article, titled “A Look into the Mind of the Mamdani Marxist,” attacked Weaver’s social media statements expressing views that rent control serves as a strategy to “challenge housing as a wealth-building tool” and ultimately achieve “full social housing.” Conservative outlets amplified controversy around Weaver’s past online advocacy.
Weaver’s Radical Vision Expressed in Social Media Archive
Weaver publicly stated: “We decided that fighting for rent control was a strategic and critical first step in the fight for full social housing. We decided that through a program like rent control, we are able to directly challenge the logic of unfettered profit in the real estate market. Umm, and we are able to directly challenge housing as a wealth-building tool and, through regulation, strike a blow to the entire real estate industry at once.” Videos of these statements went viral on social media after her appointment announcement. National Review emphasized that Weaver’s beliefs directly informed her policy preferences: “Seize private property! Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy.”
Mamdani Administration Forced to Remove Earlier Appointee Over Similar Issues
The Weaver controversy echoed an earlier staffing problem when Catherine Almonte Da Costa, appointed as director of appointments, faced forced removal following revelations of her anti-Jewish statements and comments expressing desires to see “white people feel defeated.” The pattern troubled conservatives who questioned whether Mamdani’s office had adequate vetting procedures. National Review argued: “Too intellectually lazy to be effective and too self-assured to realize it, the Mamdani-era experiment in bringing Marxist-Leninism to NYC is bound to fail.” The article contended that Mamdani would face inevitable governance failures when forced to choose between ideology and practical necessity.
Market Economics Concerns Dominate Landlord Opposition
The National Multifamily Housing Council and Real Estate Board of New York expressed concerns that excessive regulation might discourage private development. When operating expenses rise faster than capped rents, owners defer capital expenditures, leading to physical deterioration. The Pinnacle Group bankruptcy illustrated these dynamics: the company managed over 93 buildings with 5,000 code violations totaling 12.7 million dollars in fines. One tenant reported apartments with “blood and urine” covering floors and “fridges full of maggots.” Mamdani’s housing policy aims to build 200,000 new affordable units over ten years using 100 billion dollars in public investmentrequiring state approval for funding mechanisms.
