PolitiFact may have "debunked" the claim that Zohran Mamdani is a communist, but reality begs to differ. Mamdani just appointed as his "Tenant Advocate" a communist who argues that home ownership is "white supremacy."
NYC Mayor Mamdani's Tenant Director, Cea Weaver:
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 5, 2026
"We'll transition from treating property as an individual good to a collective good. Whites especially will be impacted." pic.twitter.com/RZSdCs8oEa
Cea Weaver has been floating around "tenants' rights" circles for quite a while, and her appointment makes clear that Mamdani is quite serious about using the power of his office to use regulations to gradually seize private property through enforcement mechanisms at his disposal. During his campaign, Mamdani proposed that the city identify landlords who do not respond to tenant complaints fast enough and seize their property if they cannot pay the city to fix it.
What he means is that pretty much every tenant complaint will move rapidly into property seizure. Look for DSA activists to begin agitating tenants to file frivolous complaints just to instigate seizures.
— Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) January 3, 2026
This is straight up tyranny. Best be prepared for what comes next, because… https://t.co/Z2HdFUPCIN
What he means is that pretty much every tenant complaint will move rapidly into property seizure. Look for DSA activists to begin agitating tenants to file frivolous complaints just to instigate seizures.
This is straight up tyranny. Best be prepared for what comes next, because it will get ugly fast.
If you’re a small landlord that rents an apartment in your own home I strongly suggest you notify your tenants that you will no longer be renting, because Mamdani WILL take your home.
And renters — get ready for rents to SKYROCKET to mitigate these risks to the landlords to choose to remain in the market.
It's not an exaggeration to call Weaver a communist. While technically a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, she literally has said, "elect more communists" and called for seizing private property.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate called to “seize private property” and blasted home ownership as a “weapon of white supremacy” in a series of pro-communist social media posts.
Cea Weaver, Mamdani’s new director of the city Office to Protect Tenants, made the statements and urged her followers to elect more communists in several lecturing posts on her now-deleted X account that were unearthed by internet sleuths.
“Seize private property!” she said on June 13, 2018.
“Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy,” she said then.
Weaver also pushed to “Elect more communists” in December 2017 — when a Harlem street corner was being renamed in honor of former Manhattan Rep. Vito Marcantonio, who was a communist.
Liberals who vote for socialists and communists seem to think that saying such things is endearing, not dangerous, and the precursor to doing real harm.
Zohran Mamdani’s new NYC tenant advocate called to ‘seize private property,’ blasted home ownership as ‘white supremacy’ https://t.co/9P6QedFLAD pic.twitter.com/xtgqqKwYw8
— New York Post (@nypost) January 4, 2026
Mamdani wants to impose a rent freeze on apartments while simultaneously "cracking down" on bad landlords. In practice, what this will mean is that his allies will encourage tenant complaints to the city, which will, in many cases, result in the city sending in contractors to do the work and bill the landlord. If the landlord can't pay, the city will try to seize the property.
Mamdani: We need to seize the means of production, have the government buy up all the property, take away the rights of landlords, open government-owned grocery stores, and end rugged individualism to embrace the warmth of collectivism.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 2, 2026
Press: pic.twitter.com/4hEdPELBMs
That's the goal, anyway. Keep on imposing higher and higher costs on marginal landlords until they relent. Since this is America, he can't violently seize the means of production, but he can regulate them out of business.
Mamdani openly promising to seize property from "bad" landlords — good luck! pic.twitter.com/vUSZiHYLQh
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) July 14, 2025
It's clear that appointing Cea Weaver is a statement that he fully intends to move forward on this plan to seize apartment buildings; what isn't clear is whether he, she, or any of the progressives he is bringing along for the ride have the experience and intellectual heft to carry out their plans to fruition.
They are inheriting a lot of power, filled with bad intentions, and will be able to make things significantly worse by throwing sand into the gears. But they will also be going up against some of the wealthiest and most powerful interests and lawyers in the world.
My guess? They will make things worse, mess up the property market, "socialize" some marginal buildings, and manage to immiserate a lot of people while driving small property owners out of the market.
The big guys will do fine; the small guys will get crushed, and average tenants will be worse off.
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