New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani highlighted his accomplishments during his first week in office to dozens of content creators for his first official press conference at City Hall on Wednesday.
Mamdani praised the influencers, which included fitness, film and music creatives, who helped propel him into office. He said they were "news makers," as he talked about rising rent, junk fees at gyms and infrastructure fixes.
"You are trusted voices and communities across every borough in our city, across races, religions, cultures," said Mamdani, who also said New Yorkers turn to content creators when "they want to figure out where to get some good momos in this city and they want to understand how and if government works and who it's meant to serve."
The mayor, whose administration did not allow traditional media outlets to attend the press conference, also talked about signing a flurry of executive orders, which includes the creation of a Rental Ripoff hearings across the city.
The mayor said the hearings will help collect testimony from New Yorkers about their housing woes and will help create policy.
He also said he would help the city's small businesses by cutting red tape, fines and fees.
"And too often we measure these small businesses by how many open, but we don't ask ourselves as much by how many close or how they're doing in between those two months," the mayor said.
Mamdani also hinted that his administration will create affordable housing for artists.
"...if we want to have this city continue to be the cultural capital of the country, we also have to invest in it such that artists can actually afford to live here and not just dream of coming to stay here," he said.
Meanwhile, the new mayor, 34, ended the press conference with a selfie and thanked the influencers for keeping New Yorkers informed and engaged.
"As we transform how City Hall serves the people, we want to also transform how it speaks to the people too," he said.
