Woke NYC mayor says he's open to paying reparations to black residents because Big Apple was 'very complicit' in slave trade

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:38, 31 July 2026 | Updated: 21:38, 31 July 2026 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he is open to paying reparations to black residents because the Big Apple was 'very complicit' in slavery. Mamdani, 34, pledged on the campaign trail that he would support the descendants of slavery by 'rectifying historical discrimination' and 'repairing ongoing inequalities,' according to The New York Times. During recent interviews, the mayor has said he would support cash reparations if the city's Commission on Racial Equity, which is studying the matter, recommended them.  'We often think about slavery and the complicity in slavery as being exclusively to certain geographic areas of the country. Here in New York City, we were very complicit,' he told The Root. 'So I look forward to whatever those findings are. I can't give you an answer in advance of them, but I can tell you that this is critically important because this is also what it looks like to acknowledge what history truly was.' While speaking on Sirius XM's Urban View channel this week, Mamdani said: 'There's often an attempt to rewrite the history of our city as if we were somehow removed from even the legacy of slavery. 'What we see is if we are taking an honest and accurate approach to what New York City's role was, you will see that complicity is something that cannot be debated.' Slaves were first brought to the Big Apple in 1626, according to the New York City Parks Department. Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed support for cash reparations to black New Yorkers because the city was 'very complicit' in slavery Mamdani said he would support cash reparations if the city's Commission on Racial Equity recommended them. Pictured above New Yorkers protesting in July 2020 On Wall Street, between Pearl and Water Streets, a slave auction market existed between 1711 and 1762. 'By the mid-18th century approximately one in five people living in New York City was enslaved and almost half of Manhattan households included at least one slave,' the parks department said.  New York State abolished slavery in 1827, and complete abolition came in 1841 when the state abolished the right of non-residents to have slaves for up to nine months. The New York City Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) was established in 2024 by the passing of Local Law 91, which requires the commission to create a public process for truth, healing and reconciliation. According to the CORE website, the commission is required to submit a second report for a reparations study by January 1, 2027. Earlier this month, civil rights groups in New York released a report demanding reparations for black residents, arguing that decades of deliberate racial inequality must be amended.  The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) released a report titled, The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now. 'This report lays out a clear and undeniable truth: racial inequality in New York is not accidental,' the introduction states. Civil rights groups in New York recently demanding reparations, citing the destruction of the predominantly black neighborhood of Seneca Village to build Central Park The NYCLU and LDF released arguing for reparations to black New Yorkers. Pictured above is a protest for reparations in 2002 The NYCLU and LDF broke down the report into seven sections, examining the legacy of slavery on the state, historical housing policies that have negatively impacted black New Yorkers, unfair zoning ordinances, criminal justice disparities, segregated schools, voting discrimination and wealth discrepancy. 'Reparation is the act of making amends for a wrong or injury,' the report continued. 'In order to build a thriving economy and a resilient multi-racial democracy, New York must repair past harm and break down barriers to opportunity for Black communities.' The organizations argued that even though slavery is most associated with southern states, it still existed in New York and approximately 20,000 people owned slaves. The report continues that after slavery was outlawed, black New Yorkers were intentionally confined to segregated and impoverished neighborhoods through discriminatory housing policies. Seneca Village was cited as an example. The thriving enclave existed in the early 1800s but was later obliterated for the construction of Central Park.  The Daily Mail contacted Mamdani's office for comment.