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In a free society, government works for the people. The moment elected officials start funneling public money into operations designed to build political loyalty rather than deliver actual services, that relationship flips on its head. It is the oldest trick in the machine politician playbook. And every generation of Americans seems doomed to relearn the lesson the hard way.
Here is the question every taxpayer should ask when scanning a city budget: Does this dollar go toward something citizens actually need?
When the answer turns out to be a brand new office packed with campaign operatives and gift wrapped as civic engagement, you already know something rotten is going on. The numbers just dropped though, and they are worse than anyone expected.
Taxpayers are on the hook for 5.2 million dollars to pay the swollen salaries of the information ministers in socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani new City Hall propaganda bureau. A staggering 175 percent more than first thought, according to the New York Post.
It is barely been open for business for a month, but the Office of Mass Engagement has already seen its headcount balloon 186 percent from 14 to 40, with $5,123,756 earmarked for salaries, according to the city recently released 2027 executive budget.
Read that again. An office that did not exist six months ago has gorged itself to 40 employees and a 5.1 million dollar payroll. With another 26 hires on deck for next year at an average salary of $125,000.
Taxpayers are on the hook for 5.2 million dollars to pay the swollen salaries of the information ministers in socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani new City Hall propaganda bureau. A staggering 175 percent more than first thought, according to the New York Post.
It is barely been open for business for a month, but the Office of Mass Engagement has already seen its headcount balloon 186 percent from 14 to 40, with $5,123,756 earmarked for salaries, according to the city recently released 2027 executive budget.
Read that again. An office that did not exist six months ago has gorged itself to 40 employees and a 5.1 million dollar payroll. With another 26 hires on deck for next year at an average salary of $125,000.
That is not a typo. For perspective, this single office budget now eclipses what the city allocates to entire agencies like the Board of Corrections and the Office for People with Disabilities. Disabled New Yorkers get less institutional support than the mayor personal propaganda arm. Stunning priorities.
Your tax dollars at work.
Even Democrats can not stomach this one. Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf was blunt: “This is purely politics at a time when real services are needed. We have real deficits and this mayor is spending five million dollars to put 40 political operatives on the payroll. It’s morally incomprehensible… It’s outrageous.”
He went further. “This isn’t for anybody’s benefit but the mayor’s.”
Hard to argue with that when you look at the hiring. The office commissioner, Tascha Van Auken, served as Mamdani campaign field director. He's not a seasoned civil servant, nor a policy expert. Van Auken is merely a campaign operative who's now drawing a city salary. One listed role, a $150,000 campaign style director position, carries a job description virtually indistinguishable from political campaign work. These are loyalists with government email addresses and taxpayer funded paychecks.
From campaign trail to City Hall.
The ideological wiring here runs deep. A $150,000 'deputy director role for co governance'. Yes, that is the actual title. Used language nearly identical to a DSA co chair manifesto called Building Municipal Socialism in New York with DSA.
Your tax dollars at work.
Even Democrats can not stomach this one. Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf was blunt: “This is purely politics at a time when real services are needed. We have real deficits and this mayor is spending five million dollars to put 40 political operatives on the payroll. It’s morally incomprehensible… It’s outrageous.”
He went further. “This isn’t for anybody’s benefit but the mayor’s.”
Hard to argue with that when you look at the hiring. The office commissioner, Tascha Van Auken, served as Mamdani campaign field director. He's not a seasoned civil servant, nor a policy expert. Van Auken is merely a campaign operative who's now drawing a city salary. One listed role, a $150,000 campaign style director position, carries a job description virtually indistinguishable from political campaign work. These are loyalists with government email addresses and taxpayer funded paychecks.
From campaign trail to City Hall.
The ideological wiring here runs deep. A $150,000 'deputy director role for co governance'. Yes, that is the actual title. Used language nearly identical to a DSA co chair manifesto called Building Municipal Socialism in New York with DSA.
Subtle, it is not. The office claims to champion marginalized communities, but critics point out it primarily caters to the mostly white and affluent DSA base that carried Mamdani into office.
The office debut initiative, Organize NYC, deploys staff for door to door canvassing and volunteer recruitment. Tactics ripped directly from the Democratic Socialists of America handbook. And what, exactly, are they organizing around? Rent Guidelines Board hearings tied to the mayor signature rent freeze proposal. City Hall insists the office will not advocate for any specific outcome.
The office debut initiative, Organize NYC, deploys staff for door to door canvassing and volunteer recruitment. Tactics ripped directly from the Democratic Socialists of America handbook. And what, exactly, are they organizing around? Rent Guidelines Board hearings tied to the mayor signature rent freeze proposal. City Hall insists the office will not advocate for any specific outcome.
Yeah, sure. And the canvassers knocking on doors ahead of the mayor top policy vote are just there for the fresh air.
Here is a detail that deserves attention: workers have been canvassing the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn since early May. Missing from the list? Staten Island. The city lone Republican leaning borough. A spokesperson rushed to assure reporters that a borough rep had been hired. Draw your own conclusions.
Zoom out, and the pattern only sharpens. Mamdani has budgeted $51.8 million for the mayor office in 2027. A $7 million jump over his predecessor. His communications staff is expected to be the largest in New York City mayoral history. This is constructing a permanent campaign apparatus with public funds, brick by brick.
Americans who still believe government should be limited, accountable, and focused on serving citizens. Not itself. Need to pay attention to what is happening in New York. When a mayor first instinct in office is to build a multimillion dollar machine to organize political support for his own agenda, he is not expanding democracy.
Here is a detail that deserves attention: workers have been canvassing the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn since early May. Missing from the list? Staten Island. The city lone Republican leaning borough. A spokesperson rushed to assure reporters that a borough rep had been hired. Draw your own conclusions.
Zoom out, and the pattern only sharpens. Mamdani has budgeted $51.8 million for the mayor office in 2027. A $7 million jump over his predecessor. His communications staff is expected to be the largest in New York City mayoral history. This is constructing a permanent campaign apparatus with public funds, brick by brick.
Americans who still believe government should be limited, accountable, and focused on serving citizens. Not itself. Need to pay attention to what is happening in New York. When a mayor first instinct in office is to build a multimillion dollar machine to organize political support for his own agenda, he is not expanding democracy.
He is consolidating power. And every New York taxpayer is footing the bill, whether they signed up for it or not.
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