When voters hand their city over to new leadership, they expect—reasonably enough—that the people running things will share basic American values. You know, little things like not hating Jews. The character of an administration doesn’t reveal itself through polished campaign speeches. It shows up in the individuals chosen to wield power. And for New Yorkers watching Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani build his team, the early returns are alarming.
The incoming administration has already faced intense scrutiny over its staffing decisions. Jewish advocacy groups announced plans to monitor the new mayor’s personnel picks. Polling shows a majority of Jewish New Yorkers fear for their safety under his leadership. This week, those fears proved entirely justified.
From Breitbart News:
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, a senior appointee to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration, resigned Thursday after resurfaced social media posts showed her mocking Jews and attacking law enforcement. Da Costa was announced just a day earlier as Mamdani’s director of appointments, a top-level role tasked with staffing key positions across city government. But within hours, archived posts from her social media account began circulating — including one that read: “Money hungry Jews smh.”
Da Costa lasted exactly one day. The woman Mamdani selected to recruit talent and screen candidates for city government couldn’t survive the most basic background check herself. That’s not irony—that’s a five-alarm fire.
Additional posts from 2011 and 2012 showed Da Costa mocking Jewish commuters on the “Jew train” and referencing “rich Jewish peeps” at her workplace. Charming stuff. In her resignation statement, she trotted out the predictable defense: these posts were “not indicative of who I am.” She also noted—and this is genuinely remarkable—that she is “the mother of Jewish children.” Apparently, that’s supposed to make the antisemitic posts okay. Mamdani accepted her resignation, praising her “deep remorse.”
A Pattern Emerges
Here’s the thing. If Da Costa’s hiring were a one-time oversight, New Yorkers might extend some grace. New administrations stumble. People make mistakes. But her appointment isn’t an isolated blunder. It’s part of a pattern that reveals something deeply wrong with Mamdani’s judgment—or his values.
Consider who else sits on his transition team. There’s Tamika Mallory, the former Women’s March leader who was pushed out of that organization over her cozy relationship with notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan. When pressed repeatedly to denounce Farrakhan’s hateful rhetoric, Mallory flatly refused. Her reward? A seat on Mamdani’s Transition Committee on Community Safety. Unbelievable.
Then there’s Mysonne Linen. In 1999, a Bronx jury convicted him of two armed taxi driver robberies. He served seven years of a potential 25-year sentence. The man who stuck guns in the faces of working-class New Yorkers now helps shape the city’s public safety policy. Mamdani personally tapped him to lead the transition team on that front.
Anti-Police Rhetoric Adds Fuel
The Da Costa mess extends beyond her hatred of Jews. Her social media history also exposed visceral hostility toward police officers. She called NYPD cops “piggies.” She posted “F*** the police.” During the 2020 riots, she demanded defunding the NYPD by $1 billion and yanking officers from schools and subways.
These anti-cop rants weren’t mentioned in her resignation. But they complete the picture. Here’s someone who despises both Jews and police officers—and Mamdani saw her as leadership material. At a moment when New York still wrestles with public safety problems, the incoming mayor apparently has no issue elevating people who view cops with contempt rather than respect.
Jewish New Yorkers Already Feel Unsafe
The timing of this disaster couldn’t be sharper. Da Costa’s resignation landed as New York City witnessed violent, targeted assaults on Jewish residents during Hanukkah. These attacks fit a broader surge in antisemitic incidents that has left the Jewish community genuinely frightened.
None of this surprises anyone who paid attention. Polling taken after Mamdani’s election showed a majority of Jewish New Yorkers believe his administration will make the city less safe for Jews. The mayor-elect drew heavy criticism during his campaign for refusing to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” He eventually said he’d discourage people from using it. How reassuring.
The Anti-Defamation League has launched a dedicated tool to track and monitor Mamdani’s policies and personnel decisions. That an incoming mayor requires this kind of watchdog scrutiny says everything.
For New Yorkers watching this unfold, the message is unmistakable. When leaders repeatedly surround themselves with people who harbor hatred for Jews and contempt for police, it stops being coincidence. It becomes culture. The real question now is whether accountability arrives at the ballot box—or whether New York City must first learn harder lessons about what happens when radicals run the show.
Key Takeaways
- Mamdani’s director of appointments resigned after just one day when her antisemitic posts surfaced
- Her hiring fits a disturbing pattern of radical appointments with troubling histories
- A majority of Jewish New Yorkers already believe Mamdani’s administration will make them less safe
- The scandal erupted during Hanukkah amid a wave of antisemitic attacks across the city
