Catherine Almonte Da Costa is a Dominican-born, Queens-raised political strategist and social impact executive who briefly became a top appointee in New York City government before resigning amid controversy over past antisemitic social media posts.

Who she is

  • Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York, she has built a career across government, arts, and nonprofit institutions over more than a decade.
  • Her roles have included work in New York City government, leadership in major cultural institutions, and senior positions focused on equity, impact, and social change.

Career snapshot

  • Early in her career, she worked in the NYC Office of Appointments and as an executive assistant to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, gaining experience in public-sector staffing and administration.
  • She later held positions such as Director of Government & Community Relations at the Brooklyn Museum, Managing Director at The Broad Room, and VP/Global Head of Equity & Impact at Sotheby’s, as well as Head of Culture at an organization described as Orchestra, reflecting a focus on equity and cultural strategy.
  • In December 2025, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced her as Director of Appointments, responsible for recruiting staff for City Hall and helping build a diverse administration.

The 2025 controversy

  • Within about a day of her appointment, old posts from 2011–2012 on a personal X (Twitter) account surfaced, highlighted by the Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey and political outlets.
  • The posts included phrases such as “Money hungry Jews smh,” references to “rich Jewish peeps,” and a description of the Far Rockaway train as “the Jew train,” which critics said echoed classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish people and wealth.
  • Additional resurfaced posts reportedly included derogatory language about the NYPD, including references to “NYPD piggies,” adding to public concern and media scrutiny.

Resignation and apology

  • After the posts were publicized, she issued a statement saying she spoke with the mayor-elect, apologized, and expressed deep regret, emphasizing that the comments were made when she was around 19–20 and were not reflective of who she is now.
  • She noted that as the mother of Jewish children, she felt profound sadness and remorse at the harm caused and offered her resignation, saying the controversy had become a distraction from the work at hand.
  • Mayor-elect Mamdani accepted her resignation and publicly condemned the remarks, while also stating that she had expressed deep remorse.

Public and forum-style discussion angles

  • Commentators and community groups have debated whether decade-old posts, especially from someone who later built a career in equity and social impact, should permanently derail a public-service role, or whether sincere remorse and changed behavior should carry more weight.
  • Within Jewish organizations and political circles, some have framed the episode as a warning about how normalized antisemitic tropes can be, and argued that both explicit anti-Jewish rhetoric and coded anti-Zionist language must be clearly rejected in progressive politics.
  • Others online have focused on how quickly she resigned—essentially within a day of appointment—and what that signals about heightened scrutiny of digital histories for people entering high-profile government positions in late 2025.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.