Mamdani admin ordered staff not to use Signal but they ignored ban to collude with 200-person influencer army

Mamdani administration staffers ignored an explicit order not to use an encrypted messaging app as they communicated with an army of nearly 200 “influencers” to arrange fawning coverage of the mayor on social media, The Post has learned.Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s communications workers were told on Jan.15 that they were not to use either Signal or WhatsApp for work, according to a memo from Mamdani chief counsel Ramzi Kassem that spells out how City Hall employees are required to preserve all their emails and messages under records laws.The admin even held a training in early March to walk workers through the policy, according to insiders.Regardless, Emilia Rowland, the director of Mamdani’s New Media and Cultural Communications, and others on her staff continued to use Signal to chat with influencers as part of their push to tap into the pro-Mamdani influencers from the campaign to prop up the administration.“You should not use WhatsApp, Signal, or any other communications app or platform for work,”the memo reads.

“If you have questions about the use of other platforms, please contact the Office of the Chief Counsel.”Kassem, however, had a different response publicly when news of the encrypted chat and influencer army broke.“There is no City policy against using Signal,” he said in a statement.The conversation is not inaccessible to the public because the settings were set to auto-delete until reporters started reaching out about it.”City Council members were expected to grill the staffers over the cheerleader group chat at a hearing on Tuesday — but instead the admin only sent the director of the mayor’s office of mass engagement, Tascha Van Auken, and the records commissioner, Shawnta Smith-Cruz.Neither was involved with the influencer chat.When pressed on the memo contradicting Kassem’s public statements Tuesday, Mamdani referred questions to the counsel’s office.“To quote the chief counsel, there are trainings and there are re-trai...