New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has reportedly cultivated ties with about 200 online content creators as his communications team works to spread his policy message through social media platforms.
Mamdani, known for his social media prowess during his 2025 mayoral election, grew a following during his campaign through a “volunteer-led” group that calls itself “Creators4Zohran,” which posts in support of the mayor. From this Creators4Zohran group, Mamdani’s administration created a Signal group chat of about 200 social media influencers in which the mayor’s team sends press updates and talking points to online content creators, who then decide what to post, according to a new report from Columbia Journalism Review.
The bombshell report also noted that several influencers have been paid to work on “messaging campaigns” with certain city agencies.
“Influencers in the Signal group are not paid by the city for their coverage, although some are paid by city agencies for work on particular messaging campaigns,” the Columbia Journalism Review report reads.
“Despite the fact that taxpayer money is being spent on campaigns involving influencers, information about these relationships is closely guarded,” the report continues. “The procurement notices signed with the marketing and advertising agencies that handle the influencer contracts do not list the names of content creators.”
The report details that Director of New Media and Cultural Communications Emilia Rowland organized the Signal chat and dispersed the information to the creators. Rowland is paid $175,000 per year, according to the New York Post.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment on which content creators were paid money. The report details that the city agency influencer campaigns typically cost $5,000 to $20,000 and that “the fees are paid to influencers who are given contracts by marketing and advertising agencies that have contracts with the city.”
The mayor addressed a question about his administration’s relationship with influencers at a Wednesday press conference, including the records related to influencer contracts.
“My administration will always strive to fully comply with all legal requirements, including those that relate to the preservation of city records,” Mamdani said. “And if there are any departures from what is legally required, my administration will look into it immediately and take corrective action.”
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The mayor also said his team knows “that New Yorkers get their news in a wide variety of ways.”
“It is our responsibility to ensure that we communicate information from city government directly to the people of this city,” Mamdani said. “Whether that means to all of you, to TV, to radio, to social media, to content creators, and so on and so forth.”