‘Seize private property’: NYC’s socialist mayor taps communist sympathizer to lead office to ‘Protect Tenants’



New York City's newly sworn-in Democratic Socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has already started taking steps to advance his radical agenda by selecting an anti-private-property extremist to lead the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants.

Mamdani announced on January 2 that Cea Weaver would join his team, noting that she had previously led Housing Justice for All, a coalition of groups representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers, and its sister organization, the New York State Tenant Bloc.

'Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy.'

Mamdani credited Weaver for helping to pass "landmark legislation that closed loopholes landlords used to raise rents and push apartments out of stabilization."

"Now she'll work with us to hold landlords accountable and ensure New York City tenants are living in safe, clean homes," Mamdani wrote.

Following Weaver's appointment, an undated video resurfaced on social media of the activist discussing her goal to eliminate private property ownership.

"I think the reality is, is that for centuries we've really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good," Weaver stated in the video. "And transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity will require that we think about it differently. And it will mean that families, especially white families but some [people of color] families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have."

RELATED: 'Money hungry Jews': Mamdani appointee abruptly quits after her anti-Semitic online posts resurface

Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon reacted to the resurfaced video of Weaver.

“I don’t think so,” Dhillon wrote. “We have federal housing laws that trump any collective Marxist fantasies.”

Weaver once urged Americans to "elect more communists" in a 2017 post on her now-deactivated X account, the New York Post reported.

She also called to "seize private property."

"Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy," Weaver reportedly wrote in 2019.

RELATED: Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses NYC Mayor Mamdani of anti-Semitism after his first day in office

Zohran Mamdani. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Weaver has previously expressed support for freezing rent, writing in a January 2025 post on Bluesky, "There are lots of things the mayor CANT [sic] do on housing, but freezing the rent is one of the only things they can unilaterally do for 2.4 million New York renters. Policy plans are great, so is a rent freeze."

According to New York City's Tenant Protection Cabinet, 65% of the city's residents are renters.

Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul's office did not respond to a request for comment.

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Without George Washington, America Wouldn’t Have A 250th Birthday

No one looms larger in the story of our nation's struggle for independence than George Washington, who today seems almost mythical.

All truckers want in 2026 is safe roads



As Americans ring in the new year with family and friends, it’s worth remembering a simple fact: A truck driver delivered nearly everything carrying us into 2026.

From champagne and party hats to the presents under our Christmas trees — and the everyday goods that keep businesses running — truck drivers power the economy year in and year out. They work long hours, spend weeks away from loved ones, and keep freight moving through nights, weekends, and holidays. As the calendar turns, truckers ask for just one thing in 2026: safe roads.

A safe trucking industry depends on qualified drivers, safe equipment, and a system that rewards compliance while swiftly removing bad actors.

For too long, America’s highways have grown more dangerous — not because of professional truck drivers, who rank among the most highly trained and regulated workers in the country, but because of systemic failures that allow illegal, unqualified, and unsafe operators to put lives at risk.

The trucking industry has sounded the alarm, and this White House has listened. By cracking down on fraudulent commercial driver’s license mills, addressing the risks posed by illegal drivers, and taking meaningful steps to combat the surge in cargo theft, the Trump administration has restored accountability to the transportation system and made clear that safety — not shortcuts — is the priority.

Consider CDL mills. These sham operations churn out licenses without proper training, undermining professionalism and putting unqualified drivers behind the wheel of 80,000-pound vehicles. Shutting them down isn’t about limiting opportunity. It’s about ensuring that every driver on the road has earned the right to be there. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision to remove thousands of suspect training providers from the federal registry sent a clear message: If you cut corners on safety, you won’t be tolerated.

The same principle applies to basic qualifications. Truck drivers must be able to speak English, read road signs, understand safety rules, and follow the law. Weak state verification standards and lax oversight have allowed illegal operators onto American highways. That is unacceptable.

A commercial driver’s license is not just a credential — it is a promise to the public. When that promise is broken, the consequences can be deadly. Fatal crashes this year in Florida and California show exactly what’s at stake when illegal and unqualified drivers remain behind the wheel.

We are encouraged that the administration has acted quickly to prevent future tragedies by holding states accountable and removing unqualified drivers from the road.

RELATED: Illegal drivers, dead Americans — this is what ‘open borders’ really mean

Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

At the same time, law-abiding motor carriers and drivers face another growing threat: cargo theft. What was once an occasional crime has become a nationwide epidemic driven by organized criminal networks. Thieves exploit technology, impersonate legitimate carriers, and target supply chains with increasing sophistication. The result is billions in losses — roughly $18 million per day — and heightened risk for drivers, along with disruptions that raise costs for consumers, especially during the holidays.

Truck drivers should not have to worry about being targeted simply for doing their jobs. That’s why the industry welcomes legislation to elevate cargo theft as a federal priority and improve coordination among law enforcement agencies. Protecting freight isn’t just about economics. It’s about protecting the men and women behind the wheel.

These challenges share a common thread: Safety needs to be enforced consistently, comprehensively, and without exception. A safe trucking industry depends on qualified drivers, safe equipment, and a system that rewards compliance while swiftly removing bad actors.

Professional truck drivers take pride in their work. They train hard, follow the rules, and understand that every mile carries responsibility. They don’t want special treatment — just a level playing field and a government that takes safety as seriously as they do. Today, they have a White House that does.

Let’s ensure that America’s highways remain worthy of the 3.5 million professionals who keep them moving — this year and every year.

Does your city feel like Disney? Blame Robert Moses



A single man had near-unending influence over the infrastructure of the largest North American cities.

Robert Moses, born in 1888 in New Haven, Connecticut, helped pioneer large-scale urban infrastructure built around cars and commerce. His top-down planning approach later influenced other controlled, master-planned environments, including those created by Walt Disney.

'An extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework.'

Moses held many titles during his time in politics and city/park planning, including secretary of state of New York (1927-1929), the first chairman of New York State Council of Parks (1924-1963), and the first commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (1934-1960).

Mr. Moses' neighborhood

Moses' influence can be seen all over New York City, and he is predominantly responsible for turning a collection of neighborhoods into the common metropolis that most cities appear as today.

It was Moses' idea to run expressways right through the middle of cities to maximize access to commercial zones. He was responsible for infrastructure projects like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Staten Island Expressway, and the Cross Bronx Expressway. Many bridges that lead into New York City and Manhattan were his doing as well.

FDR Drive, where the United Nations headquarters is located, is also a creation of Moses.

All's fair

Aside from numerous bridges and expressways, Moses also built nearly 30,000 apartment units by 1939, which is discussed in his biography, "The Power Broker," by Robert Caro.

The book describes Moses as "an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives."

It was that influence and power in New York that led him to becoming the president of the World's Fair in 1964. Which, according to a documentary by Defunctland, led to Moses implementing mass evictions in low-income neighborhoods to make way for road systems.

RELATED: Comedian Shane Gillis shocks ESPN crowd with Epstein and illegal alien jokes: 'This is Disney'

Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Moses planned to make at least half of the fairgrounds permanent and openly said that much of the infrastructure was meant to stay as part of his vision of a futuristic park. This plan mirrored Moses' suggestions for many of the city projects he worked on.

Shopping block

At the same time, the fair was more heavily commercialized than any before it. Moses abandoned the visual and thematic consistency of earlier fairs to maximize profit, allowing companies to design their own exhibits in exchange for high rental and repair fees — services that were allegedly monopolized by a small number of favored contractors.

Moses' success in commercialization was noted by Disney, who wished to replicate his overall design thesis when plotting out Disney World in Florida. The two had worked together on the 1939 World's Fair, for which Disney created a special promo cartoon and even licensed a Donald Duck Day.

The first animatronics were created for the 1964 iteration of the fair as well.

Moses' influence goes far beyond Disney, though. He either directly consulted on, or influenced, the planning of at least a dozen North American cities. He is responsible for the infrastructural theory that cities should be focused on commercial centers, not residential housing.

Room for vroom

The idea that cars should move swiftly through cities on expressways took hold in places like Portland, where Moses was hired to help design the freeway network.

In Pittsburgh, Moses put his skills in planning both parkways and parks into practice when he was hired by the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association to solve congestion issues. He ended up building the Penn-Lincoln Parkway, the Crosstown Boulevard, and the Point State Park.

RELATED: Tragic Kingdom: String of mysterious deaths shakes Disney World

Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer/D23 EXPO via Getty Images

Moses acted as a consultant for a "high-speed freeway" in New Orleans in the 1940s and "stressed the benefits of removing vehicle traffic from the crowded streets," according to an article by urban planning expert Jeff Brown.

While most of his suggestions were not taken in New Orleans, they were in Hartford, Connecticut, where he planned another freeway. The city declined his suggestion to build a parking garage in tandem with the expressway, though.

Interestingly, Moses' road was reportedly placed through a slum in order to capitalize on "urban renewal funds" to help pay for the project.

Goin' south

Other cities like Boston, San Francisco, Baltimore, Memphis, Phoenix, and Toronto, Canada, have seen indirect influence from Moses. In the 1940s and 1950s, Moses eventually faced resistance, and many of his highway projects were scaled back or canceled, according to the New World Encyclopedia.

As the desire for Moses' planning skills eventually soured, he and others looked to opportunities in Latin America.

The article "Transforming the modern Latin American city: Robert Moses and the International Basic Economic Corporation" discusses how in 1950, the mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil, hired a commercial corporation headed by Nelson Rockefeller to design the public works for the city.

Moses was appointed director of studies to work in the "Program of Public Improvements" for Sao Paulo and allegedly caused great controversy in Brazil due to his intentions to import American companies to operate in the country.

Moses' influence is still visible in major cities where congestion is chronic and housing is scarce. Disney World succeeded for a simpler reason: It was designed entirely around consumerism, without the complications of cars, housing, or civic life.

In that sense, Disney World represents a kind of Robert Moses ideal — an urban space devoted purely to consumption, perfectly controlled, and freed from the democratic friction and human needs that constrained Moses in the real world.

New York Legalizes Doctors Prescribing Death

New York Gov. Hochul announced last week that she will sign a bill legalizing medically assisted suicide for adults with a terminal illness.

I’ll Have What He’s Having

If you’ve never heard of Drew Nieporent, it’s okay, even if you’re something of a foodie. Stick with me to the end of this review, and there’s an excellent chance you’ll want to read this delicious memoir from a pioneering figure of the New York restaurant scene. Once you’ve read the book, it’s all but certain you’ll wish you could have dinner with him.

The post I’ll Have What He’s Having appeared first on .

'Unnecessary and protracted': Elise Stefanik drops out of New York governor's race



Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York suspended her gubernatorial campaign on Friday just weeks after joining the race in November.

Stefanik becomes one of many prospective Republican retirees, clarifying that she will not seek to return to Congress either. Stefanik maintained that she would have won the Republican gubernatorial primary but that her candidacy would draw away crucial resources in an electorally "challenging" state like New York.

This is not the first time Stefanik's career has taken an abrupt turn.

"I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York," Stefanik said in a Friday post on X.

"However, as we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York," Stefanik added.

RELATED: 'Do I have to stay until I'm assassinated?' Marjorie Taylor Greene lashes out over calls to finish her term

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Stefanik said her family was a big part of her political calculus, saying she would regret taking more time away from being with her young son.

"And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom," Stefanik said. "I believe that being a parent is life's greatest gift and greatest responsibility. I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don't further focus on my young son's safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age."

This is not the first time Stefanik's career has taken an abrupt turn.

RELATED: GOP feud breaks out after Elise Stefanik accuses Speaker Johnson of protecting the deep state

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Stefanik was President Donald Trump's first pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, even forfeiting her leadership position in the House and going through the early stages of Senate confirmation at the beginning of the year. Her nomination was later pulled, with Republican leadership citing the historically narrow House margins. Mike Waltz was instead confirmed to the position.

Stefanik returned to the House and later announced her gubernatorial run in November, before announcing on Friday she would step back from public service altogether.

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