Overview
- The City Council and Mayor Zohran Mamdani agreed Wednesday to extend Linda Tigani’s term through July 2027 to keep leadership steady at the Commission on Racial Equity.
- Mamdani has told the council he plans to nominate Christopher Alexander, the executive director of the New York state NAACP, as Tigani’s successor pending the council’s approval and the speaker’s sign‑off.
- Tigani publicly criticized the administration after officials removed references to diversity, equity and inclusion from the commission’s racial equity plan, a dispute that helped trigger the mayor’s push to replace her.
- Council members, the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus and community supporters rallied on the steps of City Hall to defend Tigani, saying a near‑term change could erase institutional knowledge and weaken community trust.
- The commission was created by a 2022 ballot measure to study reparations and produce an inaugural report, and a judge recently found that Mayors Mamdani and Eric Adams missed legally mandated reporting deadlines, which raises pressure to deliver the commission’s work on time and protect its independence.