By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-02 15:16:20 | Updated at 2026-09-02 16:17:09
1 hour ago
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has assembled an army of nearly 200 “influencers” — giving the social media stars VIP access to push the lefty administration’s talking points, according to a new bombshell report.
The study by the Columbia Journalism Review this week revealed a web of online personalities are being fed talking points by City Hall in an encrypted Signal group text, potentially running afoul of local record-keeping laws.
Some of the influencers are even pocketing taxpayer funds “for work on particular messaging campaigns,” though not for their coverage, the report said.
The official Mamdani cheerleaders chat spawned from Creators4Zohran, which started during the mayoral campaign, according to the report.
“A group of content creators and influencers, the Creators4Zohran group that supported his election campaign was reconfigured to promote coverage and talking points from the Mayor’s office,” the report reads.
“The group is run by the Director of New Media and Cultural Communications at the NYC Office of the Mayor, Emilia Rowland, and her staff, and members of the group receive daily updates, talking points and clips that they can use in their posts.”
One of the influencers highlighted by Creators4Zohran, Allie O’Brien, recently said Mamdani was the “mayor of uncontrollable joy” in a worshipping social post.
O’Brien, though, appears to live in Connecticut from online records.
Another out-of-NYC influencer, who goes by the handle bananadotgov on Instagram, is from Columbus, Ohio, and has posted a number of lionizing videos about Mamdani.
“Strange things are happening, because I have literally not felt this way about a politician since Bernie Sanders,” she said, responding to the mayor saying he wouldn’t take a pay raise in July.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press conference at Manhattan Housing Court in New York City on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA / SplashNews.comIt was unclear if these two were on the group text, but they are often featured on the Creators4Zohran page.
City Hall did not respond to questions about the digital campaigns.
