Tenant aide Cea Weaver all smiles with Zohran Mamdani at NYC event

Radical tenant aide Cea Weaver and Mayor Zohran Mamdani were all smiles as they joined other city officials Friday to celebrate a $2.1 million settlement against a real estate company accused of forcing renters to live in deplorable conditions.

Hizzoner and Weaver shook hands at the start of a Queens press conference as Mamdani wasn’t shy about trotting out his newly-minted director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants — despite outcry over her extreme stances against private property ownership.

“If your landlord does not responsibly steward your home, city government will step in,” Mamdani said from a Jackson Heights apartment building.

“City government has real power to protect the millions of tenants across the city. And let today be evidence that we are not afraid to use it.”

City officials beside him cheered the settlement, struck between A&E Real Estate properties and tenants across 14 buildings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, including the one where the news conference was held.

The real estate firm is supposed to pony up for civil penalties and fix more than 4,000 building conditions violations while agreeing not to harass tenants, according to the city.

Other officials on hand included Department of Housing Preservation & Development Commissioner Dina Levy, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg and Queens Councilman Shekar Krishnan.

The mayor’s office said HPD took legal action against A&E Real Estate after the company didn’t address violations fast enough.

“These are serious enforcement tools, and we will use them intentionally, and when landlords persistently fail to comply with the law, we will not hesitate to act,” Levy told reporters.

Weaver, who did not speak at the press conference, has faced heat for her past controversial comments, including once calling home ownership a “weapon of white supremacy” and demanding the government “seize private property.”

She also once posted online, “impoverish the *white* middle class” and made a slew of other shocking statements that even got the attention of the Trump administration.

Mamdani has steadfastly supported her through the firestorm.

A&E Real Estate said in a statement it was pleased to strike a deal with the city and claimed the buildings involved were in “deep despair” when the company bought them.

“In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations,” a spokesperson said. 

“We are pleased to have settled all legal issues with the City and have agreed upon a repair plan with the housing department that we are already delivering on.”