In terms of politics, there are few things more enjoyable than watching Democrats get hoisted by their own petard, and that is exactly what has happened over the last couple of weeks in New York City.
The two people at the center of it are the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and NYC Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) executive director Linda Tigani. While one would expect that most far-leftists who serve with or alongside Mamdani in some capacity would be the types to ask “how high” when he told them to jump, Ms. Tigani, who has served in her role since 2023 – well before he became mayor – is not one of those people.
Mamdani has called for Tigani to step down and has already picked a candidate to replace her: NAACP NY State Conference executive director Christopher Alexander. But while the New York City Council is reviewing Mr. Alexander’s background and qualifications, Ms. Tigani and her defenders are being quite vocal about why they oppose the decision – and why they think it happened in the first place:
The request, which was first reported by The New York Times, was quickly met with fierce backlash from the council and others in the black community who argued that removing Tigani appeared retaliatory and came during a critical time for the independent commission.“He wants to put it under his thumb, because she criticized him,” one insider said. “You can’t retaliate against someone because they are criticizing their administration.”“The one commission that is supposed to deal with issues in the black community, and he tries to fire her,” they continued.Mamdani and Tigani clashed early on in his tenure after the administration edited the admin’s draft report to eliminate racial inequity and removed all references to “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
As both the NY Post and the NY Times noted, the Mamdani administration was altering that draft report not because they had a change of heart on DEI, but because they were trying to fly under the Trump administration’s radar.
On Wednesday, Tigani and some of her supporters staged a protest in front of City Hall and took direct aim at Mamdani while playing the race card:
“In August, a Black woman judge said you broke the law … for the failures to release the racial equity plan,” speaker Tyrik Washington said. “You now have the audacity to want to strong-arm NYC CORE.”Tigani slammed the mayor’s actions.”Mayor, you are required to release a racial equity plan that actually changes our lives,” she said. “It does not mean that you keep commissioners like Jessica Tisch on payroll and in office. But you are willing to undermine the independence of CORE by deciding that the only deadline for racial equity that you will abide by is the removal of the chair and executive director.”
Tigani also used Tisch’s tenure to portray Mamdani as insufficiently supportive of racial equity when it came to members of the black community:
She also questioned the mayor’s commitment to racial equity and justice, and compared herself to Jessica S. Tisch, the police commissioner, who is highly regarded by most civic and business leaders, but has drawn complaints from police reform and civil libertarian advocates.
“So you’re willing to keep Jessica Tisch, who is allowing for our people to be beaten and killed with no accountability to officers,” Ms. Tigani said. “But the Black woman that’s holding you accountable in racial equity, this is the leadership that you’re saying you don’t want in the city.”
So far, Mamdani has not taken the bait. But while he hasn’t backed down from wanting to make the change, he agreed with the city council to make August 2027 the deadline for Tigani’s departure instead of much sooner.
As of this writing, Mamdani has not yet shared exactly why he felt the need to call for new leadership at CORE, which is only fanning the flames of discontent amongst his fellow woketivists.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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