Overview
- Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigned Thursday, one day after Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named her director of appointments for his incoming administration.
- Posts from 2011–2012 attributed to Da Costa included phrases like “money hungry Jews” and calling a Far Rockaway line “the Jew train,” first reported by the Judge Street Journal and circulated by the ADL.
- Da Costa apologized and said the decade-old comments do not reflect her views today, noting she is the mother of Jewish children, and Mamdani said he accepted her resignation.
- The Anti-Defamation League called the posts indefensible and questioned the transition’s screening, and a Mamdani spokesperson said the tweets were not detected during vetting.
- The resignation leaves a pivotal hiring role open as the team continues staffing, with Jahmila Edwards named director of intergovernmental affairs and Sherif Soliman tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget.