New York City Mayor Provides Influencers with Access to City Programs via Signal

<p>New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is providing special access to a network of approximately 200 social media influencers who promote municipal programs online to residents, according to a report by the Columbia Journalism Review.</p><p>The report indicates that these influencers receive their talking points through an encrypted Signal group text, called "NYC Creators Announcements."</p><p>Signal includes a disappearing-messages feature that can automatically delete messages after a set period of time if enabled. It is unclear whether this feature is active in the Mamdani administration’s group, raising questions about compliance with city record-keeping laws.</p><p>When questioned by reporters about the potential legal implications of using Signal, Mamdani stated, "My administration will always strive to fully comply with all legal requirements, including those that relate to the preservation of city records."</p><p>Mamdani added, "If there are any departures from what is legally required, my administration will look into it immediately and take corrective action."</p><p>The use of Signal for government communications gained attention last year when then-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced criticism after sensitive details about U.S. military operations were shared in a Signal group that included a journalist.</p><p>The Columbia Journalism Review report also noted that influencers are not compensated by the city for their participation in the group or for their coverage; however, some receive payments from marketing and advertising firms that have contracts with city agencies for specific messaging campaigns. The municipal programs promoted include voting, healthcare, immigration and tenants’ rights, participatory budgeting, and composting.</p><p>City employees informed researchers that payments to influencers for their work ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 per campaign, according to the report.</p><p>The Signal group was established from Creators4Zohran, a group that supported Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign. Mamdani became notable for winning election as the first socialist mayor of the nation's most populous city.</p><p>The group chat is managed by Emilia Rowland, the New York City director of new media and cultural communications. Rowland and her staff provide daily updates, talking points, and clips that influencers can utilize in their posts.</p><p>The chat functions similarly to a traditional press list used by communications teams to distribute updates and information to reporters.</p><p>Cities are increasingly engaging influencers to promote municipal services and policies, aiming to connect with the public more directly than through traditional media.</p><p>Mamdani emphasized, "New Yorkers get their news in a wide variety of ways, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we communicate information from city government directly to the people of the city, whether that means to all of you, to TV, to radio, to social media, to content creators and so on and so forth."</p><p>Fox News Digital reached out to City Hall but did not receive a response at the time this report was published.</p>