ALT Today, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed his plans to continue working with “top advisor” Morris Katz, whose counsel helped the now-Mayor call out on the campaign trail Andrew Cuomo’s repeated abuse of staff and power. Katz is currently a member of disgraced Maine Senatorial candidate Graham Platner’s inner circle, and rather than take responsibility for Platner’s actions and his own role in covering up and excusing sexual misconduct, Katz doubled down on victim-blaming and public smears of survivors. We believed the Mayor actually understood the harm that stems from an advisory team enabling and excusing a sex pest. Now, his willingness and eagerness to continue working with Katz in light of recent reporting becomes all the more distressing. Worse, in doing so, Mayor Mamdani is sending a terrible message to the workforce he leads: that he is willing to overlook egregious conduct when it concerns members of his inner circle. 

ALT To that end, Katz: 1) Threatened the campaign’s political director – Genevieve McDonald – demanding that she lie to the Wall Street Journal, after she raised serious concerns about Platner’s fitness for office. Katz then smeared her on Twitter:  “There should be no place in our politics for incompetent, opportunistic operatives who violate privacy, betray trust, and prioritize vengeance over decency.” McDonald, a long time political professional with deep roots in Maine, was telling the truth. Has Katz ever similarly bullied anyone on Mayor Mamdani’s behalf? 2) Dismissed Lindsay Fyfied, whose claims include that Platner twisted her arm and locked her in a room among other abuses, with a campaign statement calling her claims “categorically false and politically motivated.” This mistreatment spurred Jenny Rancicot to come forward. 3) Denied Jenny Racicot’s allegations of rape with an official statement from the campaign calling them “coached and coordinated by out-of-state establishment

ALT Mayor Mamdani ran for office against Andrew Cuomo, often citing his repeated violations of the New York State Human Rights Law and subsequent attempts to evade accountability as disqualifying. The Mayor routinely invoked Cuomo’s abuse of staff and power in contrast to his own principles, even inviting Charlotte Bennett as his guest at a debate and claiming to speak for her: “She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak.”  When it was convenient for him, Mayor Mamdani campaigned not only against the sexual misconduct by Cuomo, but also against his enabling team and the entire system of abuse that fed the former Governor’s administration. The Mayor directly benefited from the work of the many women who spoke out against their own abuse and inadvertently helped pave the way for his successful candidacy. 

ALT Harassment-Free New York is shocked and disappointed to see the Mayor reverse course now when it relates to one of his own advisors. Principled leadership requires that he apply the same standard to himself and his team as he did to his opponent.  We now ask the Mayor to reconsider his decision to continue working with Katz, by reflecting on his own words: “What I don't have in experience, I make up for in integrity. And what Andrew Cuomo lacks in integrity, he could never make up for with experience.”