Amid growing concerns over inclusivity and fairness, New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has chosen a former judge, currently embroiled in controversy, to join his Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. Accusations now swirl around this appointment, hinting at a broader issue lurking within an established non-profit organization.
Last month, Milton Tingling was welcomed onto the committee with high hopes, a move underscored by his simultaneous role as the board chair for the West Harlem Development Corporation (WHDC). However, WHDC finds itself under scrutiny following allegations against its executive director, Zaed Ramadan, over discriminatory practices.
A lawsuit brought forward by Vince Morgan, a former board member, paints a troubling picture of Ramadan’s behavior. The legal complaint highlights alleged incidents of “racist, antisemitic, and otherwise ethnically offensive remarks,” which reportedly reflect a deeper pattern of misconduct within the organization.
The situation seemed to escalate following the tragic events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. According to the lawsuit, days after the incident, Ramadan convened a strategic discussion in Morgan’s office. This meeting included significant figures such as New York State Assemblyman Charles Fall and a Brooklyn imam, as they deliberated on how WHDC could respond to the incident.
The gathering’s imam stirred controversy due to his questionable past. Identified as Siraj Wahhaj, he has previously drawn attention, once listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His earlier calls for “jihad” against New York City in the early 2000s further complicate the current scenario, raising eyebrows about the council’s future direction.
After the meeting about the Oct. 7 attacks, which left 1,200 people dead, “Ramadan informed plaintiff he had become very skilled at using language that would pass the Jewish community standards for rhetoric considered antisemitic, and he devised special code words to use so his anti-Israeli statements and statements about Jews could not be directly described as antisemitic, although the statements were made to highlight Jewish greed and attempt to control and manipulate New York politics,” the lawsuit states.
In another incident, Ramadan — also a board member of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in New York City — also allegedly “spent considerable time describing how [former] Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and his staff conspired against him in the past to prove why he believes the Jews unfairly control New York against the interest of other religion and ethnic groups,” the lawsuit says. Levine is now New York City Comptroller.
Morgan, ex-director of a WHDC housing program providing support to affordable housing co-ops in West Harlem is African American, and says he was uncomfortable with Ramadan’s alleged comments about Jews and other minorities, filing a whistleblower complaint against Ramadan to Tingling in February 2024. He also made recordings of his boss, which have also been supplied to The Post, later telling the Columbia Spectator: “I started recording him, because I was like, I don’t think people would believe me if I said this, one. Two, all he has to do is deny it.”
Ramadan’s comments also allegedly included making statements about how “Jews stole Palestinian land” and allegedly used “graphic descriptions of rape and violence perpetrated…against Palestinian women and children, including cutting of body parts by Israeli soldiers whom he described as ruthless Jewish oppressors,” according to court papers.
But Tingling is accused of ignoring Morgan’s complaints, and he claims he even “retaliated against him by sending threatening correspondence and undermining his authority within the organization,” in the lawsuit.
Morgan also claims he was also prevented from doing his job advising Housing Development Finance Corporation owners.
“Tingling’s failure to address these antisemitic and racist rantings caused plaintiff untold hardship because he had to continue to listen to these tormenting racists’ language despite his protests,” the court papers state.
Neither Ramadan or Tingling returned The Post’s requests for comment. The West Harlem Development Corporation denied all the allegations brought forward by Morgan in their court filing.
In May 2024, Larry English, former chair of Community Board 9, was appointed to the board and suggested hiring outside counsel to probe Morgan’s complaints, but the motion was dismissed, court papers say.
In other recordings, Ramadan also allegedly called Ross Frommer, the vice president for government and community affairs for Columbia University, which provides tens of millions in funding for the WHDC to aid the local community, “a messy f—ing Zionist Jewish guy who has done nothing in two decades for Washington Heights,” according to court papers.
Tingling, who served on the New York County Supreme Court until he retired in 2014, is the Manhattan County Clerk.
In a statement announcing the18 members of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, including Tingling, Mamdani said: “The Committee will help ensure that our judicial system reflects the city it serves, applies the rule of law universally and does so without favor.”
The panel has already faced criticisms for not representing the Jewish community with any of its appointees.
Morgan was fired in January 2025. In court papers he claimed, “plaintiff’s termination was due in part to his questions regarding abuse of finances and procedures.”