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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new outreach office that has been packed with far-left activists is slated to cost taxpayers over $50 million — more than 10 times what was originally believed, it was revealed Tuesday.
The Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement — which has been criticized as a propaganda arm for Hizzoner — was previously expected to have a $5.1 million budget for salaries, with the headcount increasing from 14 to 40 staffers in recent months.
But Mamdani’s budget director, Sherif Soliman, let slip during a City Council budget hearings that the overall cost would be $53 million, including $2.8 million earmarked for new staff.
The Post previously reported on the new office’s job listings that came with cushy six-figure salaries and catered to Mamdani’s fellow activist base in the Democrat Socialists of America.
The mayor tapped longtime DSA member and organizer Tascha Van Auken as commissioner of the outreach agency.
The office has mainly focused on getting New Yorkers out to testify during Rent Guidelines Board about a rent freeze through campaign-style canvassing in city neighborhoods with volunteers.
Insiders have raised concern about the office potentially running afoul of conflict of interest laws by injecting political influence into government.
It first announced the outreach efforts with groups that have lobbied for years to freeze the rent. A rent freeze would also fulfill a campaign promise from the mayor.
One top staffer found himself in the center of a major political flap last week after City Hall called of the annual Puerto Rican celebration typically held on the Thursday evening before The Puerto Rican Day parade.
Mamdani was forced to walk back the plans to focus more on the parade rather than the Gracie Mansion gala.
The Post received an invite to the substitute event, which will be held Friday afternoon, however, it remained unclear if the offer smoothed over the outrage.
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