Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigned Thursday from her newly announced role in Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s administration
Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigned Thursday from her newly announced role in Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s administration after her past social media posts containing antisemitic language resurfaced, triggering swift backlash.
Da Costa had been named just a day earlier as Mamdani’s incoming director of appointments. Her resignation came hours after the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey publicly questioned whether Mamdani’s team was aware of offensive posts she had made on X, formerly Twitter, more than a decade ago.
What posts did Catherine Almonte Da Costa make?
Those posts, dating back to 2011 and 2012, included explicit antisemitic stereotypes. In one January 2011 tweet, Da Costa wrote, “Money hungry Jews smh.” Later that year, she posted, “Woo! Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps.”
Another post from 2012 read: “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train.” The account remained active until Thursday afternoon, when it was apparently deleted.
Before the account went dark, the ADL demanded clarity from Mamdani’s camp, asking whether the posts were known, whether they were excused, and how similar conduct would be addressed in the future.
“Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people,” the ADL wrote. “Tweeting about ‘Money hungry Jews’ is indefensible.”
The group added: “We 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.”
Within hours, Da Costa announced she was withdrawing from the role, describing her presence as a growing distraction. “I spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,” she said. “These 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.”
In a separate statement, she reiterated her apology, saying, “As the mother of two Jewish children, I deeply regret and apologize for these tweets from well over a decade ago. These comments do not in any way, shape, or form reflect who I am or my views and beliefs today.”
The controversy extended beyond antisemitic remarks. Archived posts also show Da Costa using derogatory language toward law enforcement, including a 2012 message that read, “I’m going to need a couple of piggy banks to pay these off :/ but no I was referring to the nypd piggies!!!!”
She later voiced support for the “defund the police” movement during the 2020 George Floyd protests, writing on June 15, 2020: “#DefundNYPD by $1B in FY2021, get cops out of our schools & subways, and invest in our communities!”
Mamdani’s team moved quickly to distance the mayor-elect from the remarks. In a statement, his camp described the posts as “unacceptable” and said they “absolutely do not represent him or the values of his administration.”
Mamdani himself confirmed the resignation, saying, “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted.”
Da Costa previously served in former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration on the city’s census team and had most recently been working as head of culture at the Orchestra. Her appointment was intended to help “bring top talent” into Mamdani’s incoming administration, a plan that unraveled almost as soon as it was announced.
