New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives for a press conference at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park on April 27, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Lillian Mann
4:20 PM – Thursday, September 3, 2026
Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has reportedly granted roughly 200 social media influencers special access to City Hall news and videos through Signal — a messaging app, according to a new report.
Signal includes a disappearing-messages setting that automatically deletes texts after a set time. Because it is unknown if Mayor Mamdani’s (D-N.Y.) group uses this feature, critics are questioning whether the administration is following city rules about keeping public records.
According to an August report from Columbia Journalism Review, influencers receive city information through an encrypted Signal chat named “NYC Creators Announcements.”
The Signal chat reportedly grew out of Creators4Zohran — a group that backed Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign, making him the first socialist mayor of United States’ most populous city.
When asked whether the use of Signal could potentially violate city laws, Mamdani insisted that his office will “strive to fully comply with all legal requirements.”
My administration will always strive to fully comply with all legal requirements, including those that relate to the preservation of city records,” Mamdani said at City Hall on Wednesday.
“If there are any departures from what is legally required, my administration will look into it immediately and take corrective action,” he added.
While the city allegedly does not pay the influencers directly for their general coverage, several influencers in the network receive taxpayer funds through private marketing agencies that hold city contracts for specific public ad campaigns, the report said.
Citizens Union Executive Director Grace Rauh highlighted that the issue lies with the fact that the city had been carrying out these communications without public knowledge.
“City leaders must be deliberate about how they communicate,” Rauh stressed. “Any discussion of official government business must occur in a manner that ensures records are preserved and accessible under the Freedom of Information Law. The rules exist to protect the public.”
While “there’s nothing inherently wrong with working with influencers,” Rauh continued, “the problem is that the city has been doing this privately. We don’t know who is getting paid and who isn’t, and the public has no way to tell a paid supporter from an organic voice. There needs to be disclosure, and we need clear rules of the road.”
The Signal chat is run by Emilia Rowland, the city’s director of new media and cultural communications. She and her team send out daily updates, talking points and video clips for the influencers to share in their posts, the report added.
According to the New York Post, Rowland pulls in $175,000 a year, while her supervisor city communications Director, Anna Bhar, is paid $260,000.
“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,” Mamdani said on Wednesday.
OAN Staff Lillian Mann
4:20 PM – Thursday, September 3, 2026
Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has reportedly granted roughly 200 social media influencers special access to City Hall news and videos through Signal — a messaging app, according to a new report.
Signal includes a disappearing-messages setting that automatically deletes texts after a set time. Because it is unknown if Mayor Mamdani’s (D-N.Y.) group uses this feature, critics are questioning whether the administration is following city rules about keeping public records.
According to an August report from Columbia Journalism Review, influencers receive city information through an encrypted Signal chat named “NYC Creators Announcements.”
The Signal chat reportedly grew out of Creators4Zohran — a group that backed Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign, making him the first socialist mayor of United States’ most populous city.
When asked whether the use of Signal could potentially violate city laws, Mamdani insisted that his office will “strive to fully comply with all legal requirements.”
“If there are any departures from what is legally required, my administration will look into it immediately and take corrective action,” he added.
While the city allegedly does not pay the influencers directly for their general coverage, several influencers in the network receive taxpayer funds through private marketing agencies that hold city contracts for specific public ad campaigns, the report said.
Citizens Union Executive Director Grace Rauh highlighted that the issue lies with the fact that the city had been carrying out these communications without public knowledge.
“City leaders must be deliberate about how they communicate,” Rauh stressed. “Any discussion of official government business must occur in a manner that ensures records are preserved and accessible under the Freedom of Information Law. The rules exist to protect the public.”
While “there’s nothing inherently wrong with working with influencers,” Rauh continued, “the problem is that the city has been doing this privately. We don’t know who is getting paid and who isn’t, and the public has no way to tell a paid supporter from an organic voice. There needs to be disclosure, and we need clear rules of the road.”
The Signal chat is run by Emilia Rowland, the city’s director of new media and cultural communications. She and her team send out daily updates, talking points and video clips for the influencers to share in their posts, the report added.
According to the New York Post, Rowland pulls in $175,000 a year, while her supervisor city communications Director, Anna Bhar, is paid $260,000.
“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,” Mamdani said on Wednesday.
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