Hochul dodges questions about on if Mamdani’s influencer army should disclose their ties

Gov. Kathy Hochul dodged questions about Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist network of influencers after troubling revelations they were fed City Hall talking points in a secret backchannel.

The governor told reporters in her New York City office that she wasn’t aware of any legislation requiring notice of government-influencer relationships similar to what’s required on ads as she claimed claimed she was more concerned with fighting antisemitism in New York.

“This is a new development. I don’t have an answer because we’ve not had a chance to process this,” Hochul said, adding, “I’m working on the crisis of the day.”

Hochul made her statements after holding a press conference to announce additional security funding for synagogues, yeshivas and other places subject to hate crimes ahead of the Jewish High Holidays.

Hochul appeared unfamiliar with key details of the city’s expanding influencer operation when reporters pressed her further to weigh in on the bombshell report from the Columbia Journalism Review published Aug. 28 showing how Mamdani’s office was secretly leaning on an army of around 200 influencers to spread his message.

“My understanding is they’re not being paid,” Hochul said. “I’m not gonna go to City Hall and ask every influencer they talk to whether or not they’re paid.”

The working paper specifically described a citywide system that included undisclosed paid influencer campaigns for city agencies since Mamdani became mayor — and the Mamdani administration’s refusal to make his favorite group of influencers or communications with the group public.

Mamdani has been widely criticized for his administration’s use of a Signal chat set to auto-delete to communicate with the influencers, which defies transparency laws that require retention of public records.

Hochul did cop to knowing about that when she was asked whether her staff used Signal chats set to auto-delete.

“Whatever is happening at City Hall, they can answer for it,” Hochul said. “All of our staff in the state of New York have been trained on all the requirements of FOIL laws and what they’re obligated to do.”

Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, said Friday that the administration took “immediate corrective action” after it was revealed the Signal chat was set to auto-erase, including reminding staff to disable Signal’s disappearing message feature.

A user must specifically change the app’s default setting to disappearing messages for each conversation.

Hochul was not up to date on legislative proposals to deal with the matter that government watchdogs have heavily criticized over ethical concerns.

“I’m not aware of any laws that have been introduced by the City Council or the state legislature at this time,” Hochul said.

City Council Member Phil Wong proposed a City Council bill last week that would require an influencer paid by the Big Apple to clearly disclose that relationship in the post — using language such as “Paid for by the City of New York.”

The bill also seeks more transparency about the advertising firms and contracts arranging the work.

The council also has an oversight hearing on Mamdani’s influencer practices, including the sneaky use of Signal, scheduled for Sept. 22.

There is not yet a proposal at the state level that deals with disclosure of influencer communications during governing. A similar proposal only deals with disclosures during campaigns.

Hochul said that if legislation is proposed, she would take a look at it, but she also praised Mamdani for being inventive and “effective.”

“Every administration has their own way of communicating with the public, and this may be a new way to do it, but it certainly is effective,” Hochul said.