New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has expressed openness to the idea of reparations for Black residents, citing the city's significant historical involvement in the slave trade. Mamdani stated that New York City was "very complicit" in slavery, a position he articulated during recent interviews and as part of his campaign platform.
He has pledged to support descendants of slavery by "rectifying historical discrimination" and "repairing ongoing inequalities." The mayor indicated he would support cash reparations if the city's Commission on Racial Equity, tasked with studying the matter, recommends 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," Mamdani 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."
Speaking on Sirius XM's Urban View channel, Mamdani added, "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."
Historical records indicate that slaves were first brought to New York City in 1626. Between 1711 and 1762, a slave auction market operated on Wall Street. By the mid-18th century, approximately one in five New Yorkers was enslaved, and nearly half of Manhattan households included at least one slave, according to the New York City Parks Department.
New York State abolished slavery in 1827, with complete abolition following in 1841. The New York City Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) was established in 2024 through Local Law 91, requiring the commission to develop a public process for truth, healing, and reconciliation. CORE is scheduled to submit a second report on reparations by January 1, 2027.
This discussion follows a recent report released by civil rights groups in New York, including the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF). Titled "The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now," the report argues that decades of deliberate racial inequality require amendment. The organizations contend that while slavery is often associated with the South, it was a significant institution in New York, with approximately 20,000 people owning slaves at one point. The report highlights how, after slavery's abolition, discriminatory housing policies intentionally confined Black New Yorkers to segregated and impoverished neighborhoods. The destruction of Seneca Village, a Black enclave, to build Central Park was cited as an example of such historical harms.
"Reparation is the act of making amends for a wrong or injury," the report states. "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."