Mamdani’s campaign ‘influencer army’ followed him straight into City Hall
By Vivek Saxena September 3, 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is using online influencers, some of whom don’t even live in NYC, to push talking points and more.
According to an extensive but friendly investigation from Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Mamdani has an “army” of paid and nonpaid influencers connected through a Signal group called NYC Creators Announcements. Featuring over 200 members, the group is run by the mayor’s top officials.
Signal is an encrypted chat-messaging app.
“Influencers who are selected to join the group fill out an intake form that describes where they live and what topics they are interested in,” CJR notes. “They will then receive invitations targeted to their interests, such as being invited to join a neighborhood canvass or film the preparation of a canvass.”
For just being a member of the group, participants receive nothing. Some influencers admitted they take part because they support the mayor. Others said they sometimes critique the mayor’s plans but remain in the group.
Other influencers, meanwhile, earn money through messaging campaigns commissioned by city agents. The pay ranges from just $5,000 to a whopping $20,000 per campaign. However, they don’t work directly for the city.
The way it works is that the city contracts marketing and advertising firms that then hire the influencers as independent contractors. Unfortunately, procurement notices usually don’t name the influencers involved, so the public is forced to remain in the dark about who’s being paid to say what.
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