Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, is facing criticisms from Black community leaders just weeks into his administration. As the Big Apple’s 34-year-old, first Muslim and South Asian mayor assembles his team to execute his ambitious affordability agenda, some are troubled that he has not appointed a single Black person as a deputy mayor.
According to The New York Times, critics are side-eying Mamdani’s rollout of five deputy mayors thus far; one was Latino, but none were Black.
“I don’t care whether the mayor’s Black, white, Asian or Latino, you need a leadership team that mirrors the city,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, told the Times.
More than half of New York City’s resident population is Black and Latino.
The early criticism of the still-developing Mamdani administration comes after Black voters played a key role in the new mayor’s historic victory last November. After losing the Black vote to Andrew Cuomo in the 2024 primary election, Mamdani worked to improve his engagement with Black New Yorkers. In the end, Mamdani turned things around with 61% of the Black vote.
“It is clear from the lack of conversation and engagement that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of focus and attention on the needs of Black New Yorkers in the city,” L. Joy Williams, the head of the New York State NAACP, told the New York Times.
Tyquana Henderson-Rivers, a Black political consultant, told the newspaper that not having a Black deputy mayor was “damaging.”
“He already doesn’t have the best relationship with the Black community. And it seems like he’s not interested in us because there’s no representation in his kitchen cabinet,” she said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mamdani pushed back against some of the criticisms of his lack of Black appointments, noting to the Times that, among overall appointees throughout the administration, including commissioner and director positions, several were Black and Latino.
But deputy mayors hold considerably more power in City Hall. The appointed offices oversee major executive branch offices, and a majority of agency commissioners and department heads report to a deputy mayor.
On Thursday, Mamdani announced Afua Atta-Mensah as the new chief equity officer and commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice. Atta-Mensah led Mamdani’s mayoral campaign outreach to Black voters. The new mayor also tapped other Black appointees in high-level positions, like Kamar Samuels as the city’s school chancellor and Jahmila Edwards as director of intergovernmental affairs.
Mamdani has made commitments to Black communities to address persistent racial disparities in New York City. The mayor said his administration will release a plan to address those racial disparities in vowing within his first 100 days in office.
During a Thursday news conference in East Harlem, while introducing Atta-Mensah, Mamdani addressed the diversity of his administration, telling New Yorkers, “It is essential that my administration doesn’t just fight for New Yorkers, but also looks like the city that it seeks to represent.” He added, “I am proud of the team that we have assembled.”
