Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration is facing mounting pressure after top transition officials fast-tracked the hiring of Catherine Almonte Da Costa as director of appointments, allowing her antisemitic tweets to go undetected. Sources close to the matter revealed that key team members signed off on the decision without completing a critical internal vetting step, which would have uncovered Da Costa's tweets from over a decade ago.
The rush to roll out Mamdani's team resulted in Da Costa not finishing a rigorous process that involved searching public records, which did not uncover her controversial social media posts because her handle was not easily identifiable. A source described the vetting as "rushed and sloppy."
Da Costa had only completed an initial vetting that didn't include her X account, and she even expressed her "deep regret" over the tweets in a statement announcing her resignation. The Anti-Defamation League called the tweets indefensible, and Mamdani's team was forced to airbrush Da Costa out of a New York magazine cover photo featuring the mayor with his senior leadership team.
Mamdani has taken steps to tighten up his vetting process after Da Costa's departure, hiring Tappan Research for $25,000 to assist with its research. However, sources within the transition have raised questions about the administration's overreliance on a close-knit circle of former aides from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The team's reliance on these familiar faces has sparked concerns that Mamdani could fall prey to groupthink and become too cozy with insiders who are "in the business of politics." Despite this, many believe that Mamdani will learn from these mistakes and develop the institutional knowledge and political instincts necessary to run a government effectively.
In a statement, Mayor Mamdani acknowledged that there were "clear changes that need to be made" to his vetting process, but he did not elaborate further. The incident has raised questions about how the transition was managed and whether the team took adequate steps to address concerns about potential hires with sensitive social media history.
The rush to roll out Mamdani's team resulted in Da Costa not finishing a rigorous process that involved searching public records, which did not uncover her controversial social media posts because her handle was not easily identifiable. A source described the vetting as "rushed and sloppy."
Da Costa had only completed an initial vetting that didn't include her X account, and she even expressed her "deep regret" over the tweets in a statement announcing her resignation. The Anti-Defamation League called the tweets indefensible, and Mamdani's team was forced to airbrush Da Costa out of a New York magazine cover photo featuring the mayor with his senior leadership team.
Mamdani has taken steps to tighten up his vetting process after Da Costa's departure, hiring Tappan Research for $25,000 to assist with its research. However, sources within the transition have raised questions about the administration's overreliance on a close-knit circle of former aides from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The team's reliance on these familiar faces has sparked concerns that Mamdani could fall prey to groupthink and become too cozy with insiders who are "in the business of politics." Despite this, many believe that Mamdani will learn from these mistakes and develop the institutional knowledge and political instincts necessary to run a government effectively.
In a statement, Mayor Mamdani acknowledged that there were "clear changes that need to be made" to his vetting process, but he did not elaborate further. The incident has raised questions about how the transition was managed and whether the team took adequate steps to address concerns about potential hires with sensitive social media history.
So I think this whole thing is a big deal, you know? It's not just about one person or their tweets, it's about the vetting process that's supposed to be in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening again 
. The fact that key team members signed off on Da Costa's hire without doing their due diligence is pretty alarming.
. But at the same time, I think it's good that Mayor Mamdani is taking steps to tighten up his vetting process.
. Overall, this whole thing just feels like a big learning opportunity for Mayor Mamdani and his team, and I hope they come out of it with some valuable lessons 
.
. People are overreacting here. One tweet from 10 years ago? It's not like she's been shouting antisemitic slogans on the street corner. And yeah, maybe the vetting process was a bit sloppy, but come on, we're talking about a bunch of politicians who have been in the game for decades - they've all got skeletons in their closets. 
Besides, Mamdani's administration is trying to fix things and make a positive change, so let's not get too hung up on one little tweet. And btw, what's with all the fuss about vetting? Can't we just give people a break if they've changed their minds or grown as individuals? 
! I mean, can you believe they let her keep that job for so long without doing a proper background check? It's like, how did this even happen? 
And now the mayor is all like "oh well, we'll just tighten up our vetting process" 
but it's too little, too late. I'm not buying it 
. They need to do more than just throw some money at a consultant and call it a day 
. And what's with this groupthink thing? 
Can't we have some fresh faces in there for once? 
Anyway, kudos to the Anti-Defamation League for speaking out 
. #VettingProcessFail #GroupThinkGoneWrong #LeadershipLessonsLearned
. And what's with this "deep regret" excuse? Regret is one thing, but still having those tweets up there for everyone to see is a whole other story 
.
. It's not just about the tweets themselves, but how did no one notice before now? 
Mamdani's team needs to do a better vetting process, imo 
. Hiring Tappan Research is a good start, but it's also gotta be transparent about who they're relying on and what their qualifications are 
.
Da Costa's statement of "deep regret" is super weak tho, it sounds like she was just trying to save her rep 
25k to a new firm for research seems like peanuts considering the heat this is gonna bring 
They should have taken their time and done a proper check. I'm glad they're taking steps to tighten it up now, but I'm also worried about how this could affect the mayor's team... groupthink and all that. 
this whole thing is a total disaster 
Mamdani's administration can't even be bothered to properly vet his top officials, it's like they're just playing musical chairs except instead of chairs, its people's lives and reputations 
. I'm all for learning from mistakes and all that jazz, but you gotta be willing to take a harder look at the people you're hiring. Otherwise, it's just gonna keep happening 
. The city deserves better than to have someone with that kind of history at the helm 
.
This whole thing is a major red flag for me... I mean, what's up with these top officials rushing into hiring someone without doing their due diligence? Like, come on, we're talking about vetting public records and stuff that could have prevented this whole antisemitic tweet debacle. And now they're scrambling to fix the problem after it blows up in their faces 
. I'm all for giving people second chances, but not when it comes to something like this... a little more transparency and accountability would've been nice 
and now they're trying to just airbrush da costa out of the photo like it's no big deal? 
not cool, man. i'm low-key hoping mamdani takes these mistakes seriously and does some serious vetting from now on... we need someone who can actually run a government without all the drama 
, but now her antisemitic tweets are all over the news and Mamdani's team is scrambling. Like, what's next? Are they gonna hire the guy who thinks pineapple belongs on pizza? 
.
I mean, how could they miss those antisemitic tweets? It's like, basic vetting 101 
it'll only work if they actually change their ways, not just slap on a fresh face