Progressives Whine That Mamdani’s Staff Picks Aren’t the Right Race
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has faced criticism from Black and Latino leaders over the lack of Black portrayal among his five deputy mayors-only one is Latino and none are Black. political consultant Tyquana Henderson-Rivers called the omission “damaging” and said it reinforces perceptions that Mamdani is not prioritizing the Black community. labor leader Kyle Bragg noted it is indeed the first management in about 50 years without a Black deputy mayor and warned that movements that rely on Black political labor but exclude Black executive leadership are extractive. The mayor’s team points to other Black appointments, such as Afua Atta-Mensah as Chief Equity Officer, and Mamdani’s campaign emphasized diversity and multilingual outreach, but critics say the deputy mayor lineup contradicts that message.The mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Some progressives are not pleased with the level of diversity among New York City socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top aides, The New York Times reported.
Several black and Latino leaders have spoken out against what they perceived as a lack of diversity in Mamdani’s cabinet. The mayor has appointed five deputy mayors, one of whom is Latino and none of whom are black.
Political consultant Tyquana Henderson-Rivers told The New York Times that it is “damaging that there’s no Black deputy mayor.”
“He already doesn’t have the best relationship with the black community,” Henderson-Rivers added in her interview with the outlet. “And it seems like he’s not interested in us because there’s no representation in his kitchen cabinet.”
She also wrote in a post that Mamdani is “acting out what black people don’t like about the [Democratic Socialists of America],” according to The New York Times.
“And that’s acting as if race doesn’t matter,” Henderson-Rivers wrote in the post.
Mamdani has hired and appointed several black people to positions within the city government since his inauguration, including Afua Atta-Mensah — who led the successful Mamdani campaign’s effort to reach out to black voters — as the city’s Chief Equity Officer.
Kyle Bragg, former president of prominent labor union Local 32BJ, wrote in a post to that the Mamdani administration is the “first” in half a century to “not appoint a black deputy mayor,” The New York Times reported.
Bragg wrote the same day that “any movement that benefits from black political labor while excluding black executive leadership is extractive, whether intentional or not.” In a later post, he clarified that his post was not “a condemnation of the Mamdani Administration,” but rather a “critique of an issue I believe deserves thoughtful attention.”
Diversity appeared to be a focal point for Mamdani as he ran for office, since he delivered campaign messages in multiple languages and said that his administration “looks like the city that it seeks to represent.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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