Mamdani appointee resigns, apologizes after old antisemitic comments come to light

An appointee to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration resigns after old antisemitic social media posts surfaced.

Mamdani had named Catherine Almonte Da Costa as his administration’s director of appointments on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, social media posts surfaced from Da Costa’s X account dating to 2011 and 2012.

Da Costa wrote, “Money hungry Jews smh.” The acronym stands for “shaking my head.”

She also wrote, “Promoted to upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” and, “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train.”

Da Costa says in a statement, “I spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. 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,” she says.

Mamdani says in a statement to The Times of Israel, “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted.”