Mamdani brings the campaign mobilization to City Hall

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign succeeded on the back of a massive grassroots movement of tens of thousands of volunteers energized by his message of affordability. His new administration doesn’t want to leave that movement behind.

On Friday, Mamdani signed an executive order creating a new Office of Mass Engagement, to be headed by the mastermind behind his campaign’s field operation, Tascha Van Auken. The office will oversee existing city units including the Public Engagement Unit, the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, NYC Service and the Civic Engagement Commission.

“For too long, city government has only listened to the wealthy and well-connected while working New Yorkers remain further and further disconnected from those elected to serve them,” Mamdani said in a statement. “The Office of Mass Engagement will fundamentally change this, creating a deeper connection between City Hall and community organizations, faith-based groups, and everyday New Yorkers looking to make their voices heard.”

Van Auken oversaw the campaign’s field operation during the primary and general elections, which included more than 90,000 volunteers. The campaign engaged young and new voters who said they’ve been discouraged and demoralized from participating in traditional politics.

The idea behind the office is to harness that movement and give it a formal voice at City Hall. “We are all too familiar with wanting to participate in City government and not knowing where to go,” Van Auken said in a statement. “At worst, when New Yorkers need support – when they are facing eviction, when they are denied unemployment, when they need to find care for a loved one – they do not know where to go. We will demystify government so all New Yorkers can be active participants and have the resources they need to thrive.”

At a press conference at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza on Friday, Mamdani and Auken declined to provide many details of the office, including what its budget would be and exactly how the office would engage New Yorkers.

“It brings together public engagement efforts that have too often been siloed, streamlining them under a single coordinated office with the responsibility to make engagement meaningful across City Hall,” Van Auken said in prepared remarks. 

Asked whether volunteers would be mobilized to further Mamdani’s agenda by, for example, pressuring the governor to raise taxes on the wealthy, Mamdani was similarly vague. 

“We want to make clear that our successes will be achieved together with the New Yorkers who brought us to this point and all others that call the city their home,” he said.“And so that means that our agenda is not one that is going to be fought for simply behind the closed doors of city and state government, but rather one the very New Yorkers who are here today and those that are hard at work across the city will be a part of advocating for.”

Van Auken is a committed member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Previously, she led the campaigns of state Sen. Julia Salazar and Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest.

Mamdani also announced Friday that he would appoint his longtime friend and attorney Ali Najmi to be the chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.