NYC budget reveals $5.2M payroll for Mamdani’s “Mass Engagement” office
Taxpayers are set to cover $5.2 million in salaries for the expanded staffing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new City Hall Office of Mass Engagement, a figure The New York Post says is 175% higher than initially expected.
The office, open for less than a month, has grown from 14 to 40 employees, a 186% jump. The 2027 executive budget allocates $5,123,756 for salaries alone, which is reportedly more than the full budgets of agencies such as the Board of Corrections, Community Affairs Unit, and the Office for People with Disabilities.
A March report said the office initially hired 14 positions totaling about $1.6 million, including a $150,000 campaign director role described as similar to political campaign work. Mamdani is also expected to add 26 more staffers by next year at an average salary of $125,000, plus $30,000 for non-staff expenses.
The office’s stated purpose is to increase public participation in policymaking, but critics have described it as politically driven and accused it of discouraging opposition to Mamdani’s agenda. The budget does not disclose all job descriptions, though current staff include Commissioner Tascha Van Auken, formerly Mamdani’s campaign field director, and Mohamed Alharbi, Queens deputy borough director.
The unit operates alongside a growing mayoral communications team, which sources say may be the largest in city history. Mamdani’s 2027 mayoral office budget is $51.8 million, up $7 million from former Mayor Eric Adams’s prior budget.
When he announced its creation, Mamdani claimed the new office would get marginalized communities involved in city government. But so far it’s catered to the mostly white and wealthy DSA base who put him in office.
Recently, staff have canvassed neighborhoods including the Lower East Side to promote Rent Guidelines Board hearings tied to a potential rent freeze affecting about 2 million rent-stabilized tenants. Outreach has also occurred in parts of the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, but not Staten Island, where officials say a representative has been hired.
The office also includes a $150,000 deputy director of co-governance role whose job description drew comparisons to a DSA manifesto called “Building Municipal Socialism in New York with DSA.” City Hall says it has also reached out to landlord groups regarding the hearings and maintains it will not advocate for a specific outcome.
