New York City’s radical socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, one of the most progressive elected officials in the country, is facing criticism from within the Democrat coalition over what critics describe as a growing diversity “problem” inside his administration.
A report published Thursday by The New York Times highlighted concerns from black and Latino leaders who say they are being sidelined under Mamdani’s leadership, despite his campaign rhetoric and media celebration as the city’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.
The article is headlined “None of Mamdani’s Deputy Mayors Are Black. It Has Become a Problem.”
It notes that Mamdani won the Democrat mayoral primary last year with limited support from black voters, prompting outreach efforts aimed at reassuring those communities that he would build a diverse administration.
“But in his rollout as mayor, Mr. Mamdani has appointed five deputy mayors, none of them black; one was Latino,” New York Times reporter Jeffery C. Mays wrote.
Outreach Efforts Fail to Calm Critics
Mays detailed several steps Mamdani has taken in response to the criticism, including naming Afua Atta-Mensah, who led campaign outreach to black voters, as chief equity officer and commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to releasing a long-delayed plan addressing racial disparities in the city.
“The moves were welcomed by black and Latino leaders, but they still questioned Mr. Mamdani’s commitment to racial equity,” Mays wrote.
Tyquana Henderson-Rivers, described by the paper as a “well-known black political consultant,” said Mamdani “doesn’t have the best relationship with the black community” and added that “it seems like he’s not interested in us because there’s no representation in his kitchen cabinet.”
Comparisons to Past Mayors
The Times contrasted Mamdani’s administration with those of previous Democrat mayors, including Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio, arguing their senior staffs were more diverse.
Adams, Mamdani’s immediate predecessor, ran as an independent for a second term in 2025 before dropping out amid weak polling.
Kirsten John Foy, president of the civil rights group Arc of Justice, told the Times that Mamdani is “tone deaf to the cries of black and Latinos in the city for access to power.”
The paper acknowledged that Mamdani has appointed two black officials to prominent roles, schools chancellor and director of intergovernmental affairs, but reported that “leaders say those appointments do not constitute the level of diversity they had expected” from the far-left mayor.
Other critics quoted included leaders from the NAACP, with the head of its New York State chapter suggesting “there doesn’t seem to be a lot of focus and attention on the needs of black New Yorkers in the city.”
Administration Pushes Back
Mamdani’s office has fired back in response to the article.
A spokesperson disputed the suggestion that the administration lacks diversity.
The spokesperson told the Times that of 32 appointees so far, 18 are Asian American, Latino, Middle Eastern, or black, and said the administration plans to make “six high-level commissioner or director appointments, five of whom are expected to be black or Latino.”
The controversy has drawn online mockery as well, with critics on social media ridiculing the idea that a hard-left mayor could be accused of not being “woke” enough.
One commentator summed up the reaction succinctly:
“It must be so exhausting being a lib.”
READ MORE – Mamdani’s Housing Czar: ‘White Middle-Class Homeowners Are a Huge Problem’
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