Mayor Zohran Mamdani is taking slings and arrows as he tries to remove the current chair and executive director of the city’s Commission on Racial Equity.
The mayor sent a letter to the City Council earlier this week asking lawmakers to approve replacing Linda Tigani, The New York Post reported. His request was met with backlash from council members and black leaders who argue that he is retaliating against her for criticizing him.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani tried to replace the black female head of the city’s Commission on Racial Equity after she publicly criticized him for removing any mention of DEI from its “racial equity plan” released earlier this year.
Hizzoner sent a letter to the City Council this week asking lawmakers to sign off on replacing Linda Tigani with Christopher Alexander, the executive director of New York’s NAACP.
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.”
NEW: @NYCMayor seeks to oust head of Commission on Racial Equity, over objections from City Council’s BLAC and some faith leaders, @JeffCMays reports: https://t.co/dRiXT4eaFC via @NYTimes
— Sally Goldenberg (@SallyGold) October 28, 2026
The feud traces back to early in Mamdani’s tenure as mayor, when his administration edited the commission’s draft report to eliminate racial inequity and removed all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Some speculated this was intended to avoid the attention of the Trump administration, which has been cracking down on DEI policies across the country.
𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐈 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄 — 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐋 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐌 New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked the City Council this week to replace Linda Tigani, the Black woman who chairs the city’s Commission on Racial Equity — weeks after she publicly called out his administration for 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐄𝐈 from the commission’s own racial-equity report. The two clashed earlier this year when Mamdani’s team edited her commission’s draft findings to strip the language entirely, reportedly to avoid drawing the Trump administration’s attention. Tigani didn’t let it go quietly, leading a rally on the City Hall steps this week. “𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮,” one insider told the New York Post. The backlash came from inside his own coalition. Demonstrators accused Mamdani of parading “𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴” during his campaign while delivering nothing in office — a mayor who still hasn’t appointed a single Black deputy mayor. Council member Farah Louis warned that pushing Tigani out 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞. Facing the revolt, Mamdani’s own council forced a retreat: Tigani keeps her seat until next July, while his proposed replacement — a man who already resigned once over a botched state rollout — is merely being “vetted,” not installed. 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲. Source: New York Post https://t.co/KkDVUBThwB https://t.co/KkDVUBThwB
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) October 29, 2026
The commission challenged the city in court over delays in producing its required racial equity plan. A judge found that Mamdani and his predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams, failed to meet legal deadlines.
The council struck a tentative deal with Mamdani’s office to keep Tigani in place until July 2027. Her original term was set to expire at the end of October. She has been in her position since 2023.
“No mayor is above Racial Equity Law,” Tigani said in a NYC Commission on Racial Equity statement. “New Yorkers voted racial equity into our Charter. A judge enforced its requirements. Racial equity is law.”