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Mayor Zohran Mamdani has hired Lena Afridi as a senior adviser at a salary of $185,000. Afridi, who identifies as a "gay communist" and was an editor at the magazine Pinko, which advocates for gay communism and the abolition of private property and the police state, previously posted on social media calling for the defunding and eventual abolition of the NYPD and praising figures linked to violent Marxist organizations. The Washington Free Beacon reported these details, highlighting Afridi's deleted posts that reflect radical political views before her hire at City Hall.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Lena Afridi, a senior adviser to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani earning a salary of $185,000, was previously known for her support of “gay communism” and calls for abolishing the police. According to a LinkedIn post by Dean Fuleihan, First Deputy Mayor, Afridi was hired to advise on responses to federal intervention. She had also been an editor at Pinko magazine, which describes itself as "communism for fags." In deleted social media posts, Afridi praised Marxist ideology and mourned Rita 'Bo' Brown, a former member of the militant George Jackson Brigade. The Washington Free Beacon first reported these details in April 2023.
Written for “Mamdani Adviser Controversy” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 14416: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-17
A senior adviser to Mayor Zohran Mamdani pulling in a $185,000 salary repeatedly praised “gay communism” and called for abolishing the police in deleted social media posts, a new report said.
asserted
report → pull → posts
Lena Afridi, a self proclaimed “gay communist” who uses they/them pronouns, was hired to advise “on responses to federal intervention” for First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan according to an April LinkedIn post.
uncertain
who → proclaim → post
Afridi is listed as an editor at Pinko magazine which has described itself as “communism for fags” and a “collective for thinking gay communism.”
asserted
which → list → communism
“What do we mean by communism?
asserted
we → mean → communism
Something like the freedom not to have to seek our lives on the market, attained through the abolition of all forms of private property, family and the state,” Pinko wrote in a 2019 blog post.
asserted
Pinko → seek → post
Afridi lavished support for “gay communism” and even posted a brief eulogy for Rita ‘Bo’ Brown — a former member of a violent 1970s Marxist organization — in deleted social media posts recovered by The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the news.
asserted
which → lavish → news
“RIP to Rita Bo Brown, a militant butch working class revolutionary and one of the founders of the George Jackson Brigade,” Afridi wrote on X.
“On a personal note, outside of work: while I believe that defunding the NYPD is absolutely necessary in order to get much needed resources to the people, I *also* believe that the only way to achieve true liberation is not through reform but abolition of the police,” the Mamdani staffer posted.
asserted
staffer → write → police
Afridi also described Aaron Bushnell, the US Air Force serviceman who died after setting himself outside the Israel Embassy in Washington D.C., as someone who “died for truth” and is “venerated across the world” in a piece for Acacia Magazine.
asserted
who → describe → Magazine
Afridi even once told people to “Stop glorifying Gandhi” because he was a “racist anti-Black misogynist” in other deleted posts.
asserted
he → tell → posts
Afridi is the latest City Hall hire who scrubbed their bonkers social media posts before taking their positions.
asserted
who → scrub → positions
Mamdani Chief Equity Officer deleted posts calling to tax wealthy people “to the white meat” and “there’s NO moderate way to black liberation” before being tapped for the job.
Cea Weaver, director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, infamously wrote that homeownership was a “weapon of white supremacy” in now deleted posts
City Hall and Afridi didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
asserted
Hall → delete → comment
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