Mayor Zohran Mamdani sat down with Charles Blow for The Root this week.
Blow asked if he would support cash reparations if the city commission recommends them.
Mamdani said he stands by his campaign statement that New York City participated actively in the slave trade.
Quote: “Here in New York City, we were very complicit. And so, I look forward to whatever those findings are.”
He added he cannot answer in advance but the process is critically important to acknowledge history.
Commission on Racial Equity was set up in 2024. Final reparations report expected July 2027.
Truth, Healing and Reconciliation plan due by June 2028.
Mamdani’s campaign pledge: city should “reconcile and repair this legacy of slavery, stolen wealth, and discrimination.”
New York had large enslaved population in colonial times. Slavery ended in the state nearly 200 years ago.
Any cash payouts would come from city taxes paid by all current residents, including recent immigrants whose ancestors never lived here.
One third of New Yorkers are foreign born. Many Black residents are also recent arrivals or descendants of Great Migration.
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/nyregion/mamdani-reparations-slavery.html
Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/media/mamdani-wont-rule-out-cash-reparations-says-hell-await-nyc-commission-findings