Mamdani to Spend $5.2M on Propaganda Office: Critics Outraged
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Office of Mass Engagement will cost taxpayers $5.2 million in salaries, a 175 percent increase from initial estimates, as staffing ballooned from 14 to 40 positions.
The Office of Mass Engagement, which has been operational for barely a month, has already seen its workforce explode from 14 to 40 positions, as New York Post reports. The city’s recently released 2027 executive budget shows $5,123,756 allocated specifically for salaries at the controversial agency.
The Office of Mass Engagement’s entire budget exceeds what numerous city agencies receive in their complete annual allocations, including the Board of Corrections, Community Affairs Unit, and Office for People with Disabilities.
When the agency first launched hiring in March, Zohran Mamdani outlined plans for 14 positions totaling approximately $1.6 million in taxpayer funds. Those jobs included a $150,000 campaign director whose responsibilities closely resembled those of a political campaign operative rather than a city official.
The socialist mayor now intends to bring on board an additional 26 staff members by next year, with average salaries hovering around $125,000, according to budget documentation. Another $30,000 has been set aside for non-personnel expenses.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant, offered scathing criticism of the expenditure. This is purely politics at a time when real services are needed, he told New York Post, calling the decision to put 40 political operatives on the payroll while facing real deficits morally incomprehensible and outrageous.
While the office ostensibly exists to engage New Yorkers in policy development, detractors have characterized it as Soviet-style politics, utilizing public money to suppress opposition to Mamdani’s agenda.
DSA Campaign Tactics Imported Into City Government
The budget documents do not detail all 40 job descriptions. Known hires include Commissioner Tascha Van Auken, who previously served as Mamdani’s campaign field director, and Mohamed Alharbi, the office’s deputy borough director for Queens.
These 40 positions come in addition to the mayor’s own communications team, which sources indicate will be the largest of any mayor in New York City history. Mamdani has allocated $51.8 million for the mayor’s office in 2027, representing a $7 million increase from former Mayor Eric Adams’ budget the previous year.
When announcing the office’s creation, Mamdani claimed it would engage marginalized communities in city government. However, its activities thus far have primarily served the predominantly white and affluent Democratic Socialists of America base that elected him.
This week, three Office of Mass Engagement workers were observed canvassing the Lower East Side to mobilize residents for Rent Guideline Board hearings. The board faces a June vote on whether to approve the rent freeze Mamdani campaigned on, which would affect the 2 million residents living in rent-stabilized apartments across the city.
Organize NYC: Taxpayer-Funded Political Mobilization
This mobilization effort represents the office’s inaugural mission, branded as Organize NYC. The initiative employs volunteer recruitment and door-to-door canvassing tactics that mirror those used by the DSA during the election campaign.
Workers have been conducting canvassing operations since early May throughout the Bronx, Queens, lower and upper Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Notably absent from these efforts is Staten Island, though a city spokesperson assured that a borough representative had been hired and the city’s sole Republican stronghold would eventually be included.
Other positions within the office include a $150,000 deputy director of co-governance. The job posting for this role contained language nearly identical to concepts outlined in NYC DSA co-chair Grace Mausser’s manifesto from last year, titled “Building Municipal Socialism in New York with DSA.”
The new propaganda bureau has drawn comparisons to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who produced more than 250 promotional videos during his first two years in office.
A City Hall representative claimed the office has also reached out to landlord advocacy groups to testify at hearings and maintained the office will not advocate for specific outcomes. Spokesperson Penelope Birnbaum stated that every New Yorker should have a say in their city’s future.
With information from New York Post
