NYC Mayor’s Tenants’ Rights Chief’s Mother Is Vanderbilt Professor with $1.6 Million Home

By Nicole Weatherholtz | Tuesday, 06 January 2026 07:51 PM EST

The mother of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly appointed tenants’ rights chief—a figure who has sparked outrage for describing homeownership as “a weapon of white supremacy”—is a professor at Vanderbilt University and owns a home valued at more than $1.6 million.

Cea Weaver, the director of the Big Apple’s Office of Tenant Protection, is the daughter of Celia Applegate, a German studies professor at Vanderbilt.

Property records show that Applegate purchased a classic Craftsman home not far from Nashville’s main drag with her partner, David Blackbourn, in July 2012 for $814,000. Real estate sites now estimate the property’s value at more than $1.6 million.

The details about Weaver’s family resurfaced amid criticism over her past social media posts, which included comments attacking homeownership and calling for aggressive government action toward private property.

“Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy,” Weaver, 37, wrote in 2019.

Weaver, a longtime tenants’ rights advocate, also targeted landlords in later posts. In 2024, she argued the city should “seize private property” when buildings deteriorate and officials deem intervention necessary.

Despite growing backlash, Mamdani defended Weaver’s appointment in comments to reporters on Tuesday. “We made the decision to have Cea Weaver serve as our executive director for the mayor’s office to protect tenants,” Mamdani reportedly said.

When reached for comment, Weaver stated, “I cannot talk right now.”