Mamdani has been facing a budget shortfall in the Big Apple of over $5 billion.
Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has formed a new “mass engagement” arm in his office, which will pay almost $2 million dollars in six-figure salaries to over a dozen activist staffers. This comes as Mamdani has been facing a budget shortfall in the Big Apple of over $5 billion.
Mamdani is looking to bring 14 people into the “Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement” which aims to carry out the goals of the Democratic Socialists of America, per the New York Post. “The Soviet politburo called, they want their job announcement back,” one Democrat strategist said about the job postings.
The cadre of mass engagement workers will be tasked with building a volunteer system for different advocacy campaigns in the Big Apple. The job posting says they will be achieving the efforts through “co-governance.”
The gigs for the engagement arm of the office include campaign director, borough directors and community liaisons, and according to the Post, “read like a playbook from the NYC-DSA’s ground game that helped elect the young democratic socialist to the city’s highest office.”
One strategist source told the outlet, “I’m old enough to remember when the mayor’s office didn’t need co-governance with anyone.”
City Hall is shelling out $1.6 million in salaries for the open positions. Additionally, longtime DSA member and now commissioner at the mass engagement office, Tascha Van Auken, will be getting $250,000 to head the efforts.
The various job postings were salaried between $140,000 and $150,000. The responsibilities for the positions include to “develop strategy, process, and metrics of success for scalable campaigns that help New Yorkers join town halls, training, canvases, and other events that forge relationships and leadership development among regular New Yorkers.”
“Why doesn’t the mayor just call it the ‘Director of Re-Election Political Get Out of the Vote Using Government Money’ and just get it over with?” one Democrat operative told reporters.
Of the different job postings, borough leads were the lowest paid at $80,000 and $90,000.
“In emergencies, Borough Managers might be asked to be on the scene to represent the Mayor’s Office,” the job posting reads. “Emergencies include, but are not limited to, blackouts, tragic deaths, high-profile crimes, fires where people are impacted, and water main breaks or street collapses where people are evacuated from their homes.”
It is not clear if the office will be limited to over a dozen job postings or if the office of mass engagement will expand. Mamdani, as he is spending the millions on the office, has been demanding New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Albany raise income taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to close the $5.4 billion budget gap. He said if they do not, that NYC will raise property taxes on everyone.