FREE BEACON
Mamdani Taps ‘Gay Communist’ for Senior Government Role: New Adviser Called for ‘Abolition of Police’ and ‘Undoing Capitalism,’ Condemned Gandhi as ‘Anti-Black Misogynist’
Jon Levine
September 16, 2026

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani named a self-proclaimed “gay communist” who has called for abolishing the police and “undoing capitalism” to a top post in his administration, the Washington Free Beacon can reveal. Lena Afridi—who uses “they/them pronouns”—deleted much of her social media history shortly before arriving at City Hall, but the Free Beacon recovered her postings. She was quietly named to a senior adviser position in the mayor’s office in April 2026, drawing a hefty salary of $185,000 a year, records show. “I’ll be working on responses to federal intervention in the Office of the First Deputy Mayor,” Afridi added in a LinkedIn post announcing the move…In addition to her government and advocacy work, Afridi is currently listed as an editor at Pinko, a magazine which describes itself as “a collective for thinking gay communism.” On the masthead, she went by “L. Israh Afridi.” Israh is an Arabic word for “night journey” that is sacred in Islam. READ MORE