Mamdani tenant‑protection chief’s 2021 podcast: ‘White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem’ and homeownership must be ‘undermined’
Cea Weaver, appointed Jan. 1 by Mayor Mamdani to lead the revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, is facing renewed scrutiny after a September 2021 "Bad Faith" podcast in which she said "White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem" for the renter-justice movement and argued homeownership should be "undermined" to provide stability in other ways. She also deleted a 2019 X post calling private property—especially homeownership—"a weapon of White supremacy," and has since told Spectrum News NY1 she regrets "some" of her past rhetoric while saying she will focus on addressing racial inequalities and ensuring safe, affordable housing; former Mayor Eric Adams publicly condemned her language.
📌 Key Facts
- Cea Weaver was appointed Jan. 1 by Mayor Mamdani via executive order to lead the revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, a role with formal authority over tenant policy and enforcement.
- Audio from a September 2021 episode of the Bad Faith podcast captured Weaver saying, “White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for the renter justice movement,” and that “unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in.”
- On that same 2021 podcast, Weaver said opposition to eviction moratoria and rental-assistance measures often comes from homeowners rather than corporate landlords, and framed evictions as landlords resisting tenants remaining in properties they consider themselves to own.
- A now-deleted 2019 X post by Weaver said, “Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of White supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.”
- The resurfacing of Weaver’s podcast remarks and deleted social post has generated renewed scrutiny of her appointment to the tenant-protection role.
- Weaver told Spectrum News NY1 she regrets “some” of her past rhetoric, did not specify which statements she regrets, and said she wants to focus on addressing racial inequalities in housing and ensuring everyone has a safe, affordable place to live whether they rent or own.
- Former Mayor Eric Adams publicly denounced the characterization of homeownership as “White supremacy,” calling it “out of your f---ing mind,” and defended homeownership as a key path to stability and generational wealth for immigrants, Black, Brown and working-class New Yorkers.
📊 Relevant Data
In New York City, the homeownership rate is 41.5% for White households, 46.0% for Asian households, 27.6% for Black households, and 17.2% for Hispanic households, based on 2023 data.
State of Homeowners and Their Homes — NYU Furman Center
In New York City, the median household net worth is $276,900 for White households, compared to $18,500 for Black households and $23,100 for Latino households, as of 2023 data.
The Racial Wealth Gap in New York — NYC Comptroller
In New York City, approximately 68% of households are renters, with Black and Hispanic households overrepresented among renters relative to their population shares; for example, Black individuals make up 20.8% of the population but have lower homeownership rates, leading to higher renter proportions.
New York, NY - Data USA — Data USA
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Confirms that Cea Weaver, now director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, said on a September 2021 episode of the 'Bad Faith' podcast that 'White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for the renter justice movement.'
- Details that Weaver told the podcast 'unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in.'
- Reports that on the same podcast Weaver said opposition to eviction moratoria and rental assistance often comes from homeowners rather than corporate landlords, and that she framed evictions as landlords resisting tenants staying in properties they 'consider themselves to own.'
- Reiterates and contextualizes her since‑deleted 2019 X post calling private property, 'ESPECIALLY homeownership,' 'a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as "wealth building" public policy,' tying it directly to her new official role.
- Notes that the renewed scrutiny is occurring because Mamdani appointed Weaver on Jan. 1, via executive order, to lead the revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants with formal authority over tenant policy and enforcement.
- Cea Weaver, in a Spectrum News NY1 interview, said she regrets 'some' of her past rhetoric and that 'some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today.'
- She did not specify which statements she regrets but said she wants to focus on addressing 'racial inequalities' in housing and ensuring 'everybody has a safe and affordable place to live — whether they rent or own.'
- Former Mayor Eric Adams publicly reiterated that homeownership has been a key path to stability and generational wealth for immigrants, Black, Brown and working-class New Yorkers and said calling it 'White supremacy' is 'out of your f---ing mind,' directly referencing Weaver’s deleted tweet.
- The article reproduces Weaver’s now-deleted post that 'Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of White supremacy masquerading as “wealth building” public policy.'