Mayor Mamdani hires longtime DSA organizer to head new outreach arm of NYC to energize comrade base

Comrades, assemble!

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday tapped a longtime Democratic Socialists of America member to bring the far-left group’s mobilization model to City Hall.

Hizzoner signed an executive order creating the “Officer of Mass Engagement,” and tasked his mayoral campaign’s field director, Tascha Van Auken, with running the outreach and organizing arm for the administration.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is tapping a longtime Democratic Socialist organizer to head up a shiny new agency. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

“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, touting the office as one that will forge a “deeper connection” between City Hall and New Yorkers.

Auken got her start in lefty politics in the Big Apple working on Julia Salazar’s state senate campaign and Phara Souffrant Forrest’s assembly run — both of whom are card-carrying DSA members.

Before joining Mamdani’s team, she worked as deputy campaigns director for the Working Families Party.

The shiny new agency that Auken will helm is expected to lead “mass engagement campaigns” and try to reach out to and include New Yorkers in the decision-making of the Mamdani administration.

The full size and scope of the office was left up to the imagination as Mamdani offered few specifics other than saying it would start by overseeing existing agencies, including the Public Engagement Unit, The Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships and the Civic Engagement Commission.

The price tag for taxpayers was also not known.

Mamdani claimed the move will get historically absent communities involved in city government.

“We need more cops, more probation officers, more direct services,” said longtime strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

Mamdani signed an executive order creating the “Officer of Mass Engagement,” with campaign field director Tascha Van Auken running the program. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

“All this agency will do is propagandize to chill opposition to mayoral activities.”

The new office drew comparisons to Bill de Blasio’s early days in office, when he commissioned hundreds of sophisticated ads for his administration.

The flattering clips showered the progressive leader with praise.