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<\/p>\nCatherine Almonte Da Costa had been announced as the incoming mayor\u2019s director of appointments. The statements were from 2011 and 2012.<\/p>\n
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What’s next for NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani?<\/p>\n
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pulled off a win, but what challenges could he face once in office?<\/p>\n
A top appointee to New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s<\/a> incoming administration on Dec. 18 resigned over resurfaced antisemitic<\/a> social media posts.<\/p>\n A day earlier, Catherine Almonte Da Costa had been announced<\/a> as the incoming mayor\u2019s director of appointments, which leads the administration\u2019s hiring for city leadership. She previously had roles in city government and the private sector, including Sotheby\u2019s, according to the Mamdani transition team\u2019s Dec. 17 news release.<\/p>\n On Dec. 18, the Anti-Defamation League posted a series<\/a> of Da Costa\u2019s old X, formerly known as Twitter, posts between 2011 and 2012 when she made anti-Jewish tropes.<\/p>\n Mamdani, who takes office Jan. 1, is set to become New York\u2019s first Muslim mayor, and he’s faced criticism from many Jewish groups over his stances toward Israel and Palestine. Exit polls showed most Jewish voters didn\u2019t support Mamdani. New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.<\/p>\n In 2011, when she was around 19 years old, Da Costa posted \u201cMoney hungry Jews smh,\u201d as well as \u201cWoo! Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps.\u201d A 2012 post called a train line \u201cthe Jew train.\u201d<\/p>\n Dora Pekec, a Mamdani spokesperson, confirmed Da Costa handed in her resignation.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,\u201d Da Costa said in a statement. \u201cThese statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor-Elect Mamdani has announced Catherine (Cat) Almonte Da Costa as his Director of Appointments, tasked with \u201cbring[ing] top talent into this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic antisemitic tropes and\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/fMe2zMuphA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ADL New York \/ New Jersey (@ADL_NYNJ) December 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a statement, Mamdani said he accepted her resignation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCatherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The New York and New Jersey chapter of the ADL, an organization founded to fight antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, said Da Costa\u2019s social media footprint from over a decade ago included \u201cclassic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people\u201d and called it \u201cindefensible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate Da Costa has relationships with members of the Jewish community, but her posts require immediate explanation — not just from Ms. Da Costa, but also from the Mayor-Elect,\u201d the ADL chapter said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ADL has been critical of Mamdani. A day after Mamdani\u2019s Nov. 4 election win, the ADL, which staunchly supports Israel, launched an antisemitism tracker<\/a> of the incoming Mamdani administration.<\/p>\n Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, an advocacy group, said on social media<\/a> she was glad to see Da Costa resigned.<\/p>\n \u201cThe views she expressed are unacceptable and intolerable,\u201d Soifer said. Especially at a time of rising antisemitism, she had no place in the mayor’s office of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Da Costa\u2019s husband, Ricky Da Costa, is Jewish. He works as a deputy under Comptroller Brad Lander, the city\u2019s highest ranking Jewish official, who cross-endorsed with Mamdani in the Democratic primary for mayor and enthusiastically backed him in the general election.<\/p>\n In an X post<\/a>, Ricky Da Costa said, \u201cas the Jew who married Cat, I can guarantee she has grown so much since some dumb tweets when she was 19. Her remorse, like everything else about her, is deeply genuine & she works so hard for a NYC where everyone is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani has tried to reach out to Jewish communities after his election.\u00a0<\/p>\n A day after the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach shooting<\/a> in Australia that killed 15 people at a Chabad-Lubavitch Hanukkah event, Mamdani visited the gravesite<\/a> of the religious movement\u2019s founder in Brooklyn. Mamdani called<\/a> the Bondi Beach attack \u201ca vile act of antisemitic horror.\u201d<\/p>\n Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at\u00a0emcuevas1@usatoday.com<\/a>\u00a0or on Signal at emcuevas.01.<\/p>\n\n