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Mamdani Revamps Hiring After Old Antisemitic Remarks Prompt Aide To

Bonisiwe Shabane
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mamdani revamps hiring after old antisemitic remarks prompt aide to

A top appointee to New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration on Dec. 18 resigned over resurfaced antisemitic social media posts. A day earlier, Catherine Almonte Da Costa had been announced as the incoming mayor’s director of appointments, which leads the administration’s hiring for city leadership. She previously had roles in city government and the private sector, including Sotheby’s, according to the Mamdani transition team’s Dec. 17 news release. On Dec.

18, the Anti-Defamation League posted a series of Da Costa’s old X, formerly known as Twitter, posts between 2011 and 2012 when she made anti-Jewish tropes. Mamdani, who takes office Jan. 1, is set to become New York’s first Muslim mayor, and he's faced criticism from many Jewish groups over his stances toward Israel and Palestine. Exit polls showed most Jewish voters didn’t support Mamdani. New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. In 2011, when she was around 19 years old, Da Costa posted “Money hungry Jews smh,” as well as “Woo!

Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps.” A 2012 post called a train line “the Jew train.” New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) NEW YORK (AP) — One of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ’s appointees has resigned over social media posts she made more than a decade ago that featured antisemitic tropes, Mamdani’s office said...

In a statement, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was tapped this week to join the incoming administration, said she expressed “deep regret” for the posts, which date back to 2011 and 2012 and were... “These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused,” Da Costa said. She had been selected to lead Mamdani’s office of appointments, handling “talent recruitment strategy.” Da Costa worked in the office more than a decade ago and more recently held roles at a private communications... With under two weeks to go before he’s sworn in, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has not announced many hires for his administration. One of the few that he has announced was forced to almost immediately resign Thursday after her past antisemitic tweets came to light.

Catherine Almonte Da Costa, whom Mamdani named his director of appointments just on Wednesday, in 2011 tweeted about “money-hungry Jews” and other similar comments, in posts first reported by The Judge Street Journal, a... In a statement, Da Costa said, “I spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.” Mamdani’s transition also provided a statement from the mayor-elect: “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted.”

Several New York political insiders told CNN that they questioned the incoming administration’s vetting process, given that she was picked despite tweets that were revealed so quickly after her announced hire. One day after being hired by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Catherine Almonte Da Costa submitted her resignation after antisemitic statements in old Twitter posts dating back to 2011 surfaced Thursday. Mamdani transition sources tell NBC New York that he and his transition were unaware of the posts when they appointed Da Costa Wednesday. When Mamdani put Da Costa in charge of hiring for the city, she pledged to recruit diverse talent. "They have to reflect the rich diversity of race faith ethnicity that defines this City," she said at the time. But today, 33-year-old Da Costa was apologizing for antisemitic posts dating back to when she was 18 years old.

The posts were first found by the Anti-Defamation League, and then more problematic posts were uncovered by Timmy Facciola in a story on Substack. Soon after, Da Costa took down her Twitter account. Mamdani has made efforts to shore up his relationship with the city’s Jewish residents (Photo: PTI) Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel First Published: Dec 20 2025 | 2:14 PM IST

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