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New York City Council
Oversight - Mayor's Office of Ethnic & Community Media and Government Spending on Advertisements
Read summaries and jump into the video at the segment start.
Staff welcomes attendees to the Government Operations hearing, asks everyone to silence devices, bans food and drink, and says no one may approach the dais. Staff also directs anyone submitting in-person testimony to the sergeant at arms.
Brewer identifies herself as chair of the Committee on Government Operations, State and Federal Legislation and thanks attendees. She notes Council Member Morano's presence and turns to Speaker Menin for opening remarks.
Menin thanks Brewer and recalls starting city investment in ethnic and community media over a decade ago. She describes a 2016 million-dollar CUNY journalism grant and reads her earlier statement that ethnic media reflects New York's diversity.
Menin explains that Local Law 83 codified Executive Order 47 and requires mayoral agencies to spend at least 50% of advertising budgets with ethnic and community media. She says spending peaked at $23.1 million in 2022 but overall city ad spending fell sharply, leaving only $7 million for ethnic media in 2024.
Menin says the Council held roundtables with Black, Asian, and Latino publishers between June and July. Publishers reported no city point of contact, lost connections from prior administrations, and severe financial strain worsened by reduced city ad buys.
Brewer says federal pandemic money and census outreach showed how vital ethnic media is for public health information. She lists the oversight topic and four bills: Intros 1127, 1128, 1129, and her preconsidered working-group bill on communication technologies.
Brewer says Local Law 83 requires agencies to spend at least 50% of broadcast, print, and digital advertising with ethnic and community media. She notes social media and digital displays are out of scope and that agencies can receive waivers in limited cases.
Brewer explains waivers for legal mandates or agencies spending under $5,000 annually, and says many agencies fall into that category. She says the office must report annually on agency spending and maintain a directory that currently lists about 293 outlets.
Brewer says the mayor first moved the Office of Ethnic and Community Media into Mass Engagement, then later into the communications office. She says the executive director left at the end of 2025 and no replacement was appointed until September 2026.
Brewer says a prior hearing revealed a Signal group used by the mayor with auto-delete enabled and that the records commissioner called instant messages transitory. Her preconsidered bill would create a working group to study agency use of messaging platforms and recommend retention rules.
Brewer says the Council should periodically review reporting mandates to ensure data is timely, relevant, and not duplicative. She describes Intros 1127, 1128, and 1129 as good-government bills and thanks committee and personal staff.
Williams thanks Menin and Brewer and says government cannot be accountable if residents do not know what it is doing. She says the Council needs data to make policy and periodically reviews charter and code reporting burdens.
Williams says Intro 1127 would repeal or amend 25 reporting and study provisions, Intro 1128 would create uniform default report due dates, and Intro 1129 would establish an attestation procedure for operational mandates. She thanks committee staff and her team, including Malcolm.
Brewer thanks Williams and says the committee counsel will swear in the administration witness. Counsel administers the affirmation, and Mazen Sidahmed answers that he will tell the truth.
Sidahmed introduces himself as the newly appointed executive director of the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media. He says New York City cannot work for everyone if residents cannot access information and describes a national decline in local news.
Sidahmed cites Northwestern University data that a quarter of ethnic media outlets nationwide shut down since the pandemic. He says closures cost trusted information, neighborhood connections, and democratic accountability.
Sidahmed says Local Law 83 is a groundbreaking effort to use public resources to support local news. He explains its first pillar: ensuring every New Yorker can access public information through publications in dozens of languages.
Sidahmed says the second pillar is sustaining journalists and publications that hold institutions accountable. He lists his core duties: train agencies on Local Law 83, manage the citywide marketing directory, and publish an annual report on progress toward the 50% goal.
Sidahmed says he started earlier this month and has already heard from many publishers. He is gathering data from media buyers and agencies to compile the FY26 Local Law 83 report and understand where spending stands.
Menin asks for the office's current budget and staff size. Sidahmed says he is currently the only person on the team and plans to hire after assessing publisher and agency needs; Menin says she finds that hard to believe given the office's mandate.
Menin asks for the total mayoral agency advertising budget so the 50% target can be measured. Sidahmed says he is collecting media-buyer reports and agency data for the FY26 report; Menin calls it a basic number and urges him to deliver it quickly.
Menin asks why the office was moved under Mass Engagement and then under the mayor's communications director, and why it had no director for eight months. Sidahmed says he cannot speak to deliberations before he joined.
Brewer asks what Sidahmed's vision is for the office and notes the website is outdated. Sidahmed says he wants agencies to see community media as central to their missions and wants publisher input before making changes.
Brewer says the citywide marketing directory and office website cannot wait until next year because the current page is from 2024. Sidahmed says he does not want to make too many changes without speaking to publishers first.
Brewer asks what Sidahmed will accomplish by January. Sidahmed promises to complete the FY26 report, meet most directory publishers, and provide a detailed breakdown of which outlets received city spending.
Brewer says some directory outlets were dropped from the mayor's press list and asks why. Sidahmed refers press-list questions to the press office and says paid media should be kept separate from coverage decisions.
Brewer cites reports of up to 100% drops in city advertising and asks how fast Sidahmed can reverse it. Sidahmed says he first needs data on total spending and reallocation before making a plan.
Brewer asks what happens when agencies do not spend 50% with community media. Sidahmed says the law requires a report naming noncompliant agencies and that he will work collaboratively to increase spending.
Brewer notes the advertising world has changed since 2021 and asks how out-of-scope digital spending will affect traditional community media. Sidahmed says his focus is getting agencies to spend 50% with the 293 directory publications.
Brewer says the FY25 report shows some large agencies, including Health and Hospitals, spent very little on advertising. Sidahmed says he will meet agencies to understand their media plans.
Brewer asks about the six firms that place city ads and whether the city needs that many. Sidahmed says their spending reports are the main source for the FY26 report and welcomes Council input on structuring the vendor system.
Morano, a former broadcaster, asks whether there is inherent tension in housing MOECM under the mayor's communications office. Sidahmed says he cannot speak to prior decisions but many publishers see the office as a City Hall conduit.
Morano asks whether a paper critical of Mayor Mamdani can be guaranteed no ad retaliation. Sidahmed says absolutely and supports a written prohibition on considering favorable or unfavorable coverage in ad decisions.
Morano cites committee findings that influencers received $5,000 to $20,000 per campaign and asks why taxpayer money goes to paid messengers while local papers struggle. Sidahmed says his focus is the 293-outlet directory.
Morano asks whether an administration could increase social media and influencer spending, reduce traditional advertising, and still meet the 50% requirement. Sidahmed says he does not fully understand the structure but focuses on increasing dollars to community media.
Brewer asks how outlets get on or off the 293-plus citywide marketing directory. Sidahmed says he wants to convene publishers, academics, and Council members to define community and ethnic media publicly.
Brewer asks what dates the next report will cover and when it will be done. Sidahmed says the FY26 report should be completed by the end of the calendar year and will cover the prior fiscal year.
Restler thanks Brewer and the ethnic media representatives in the room. He recalls working on the de Blasio executive order and says implementation under Eric Adams did not work well.
Restler says the FY25 report counted $31 million toward community media but $18 million was out of scope, so actual ethnic media spending was 24%, not 57%. He asks Sidahmed to review out-of-scope spending and accurately count in-scope ads.
Restler says social media, job boards, digital displays, and bus shelter ads are not ethnic media advertising. He asks the office not to confuse or inflate those categories when reporting compliance.
Restler praises Sidahmed's commitment not to politicize ad spending but notes persistent allegations under Adams. He asks whether the office is reviewing outlets that use AI-generated content without real reporters.
Sidahmed says determining publication quality could invite accusations of favoritism. He wants a broad public conversation about what fulfills Local Law 83's spirit and sustains civic journalism.
Restler says real community outlets should be eligible for funding and that hyperlocal reach matters even without huge impressions. He cites Greenpointers as the best way to reach Greenpoint and asks the office to value that in ad selection.
Restler asks whether reduced public-notification requirements in ballot questions could hurt local outlet ad revenue. Sidahmed says he is not familiar with the issue and will follow up.
Brewer says agencies can become lax without leadership and asks how Sidahmed will monitor waivers and claims that agencies spend under $5,000. Sidahmed says he will learn from agencies and reduce friction.
Brewer presses on agency follow-through and training. Sidahmed says he has seen excitement from agencies and sees his role as making it easier for them to work with community media.
Wilson asks how the city measures campaign reach and whether ethnic media ads increase awareness or use of city services. Sidahmed says he wants impact stories beyond traditional metrics and that media placement agencies handle campaign-level measurement.
Wilson asks what the office is doing to ensure smaller publications can compete for city advertising. Sidahmed says the office will increase transparency about agency spending and work with placement vendors to include small outlets.
Wilson asks how the city would verify agency attestations under Intro 1129 rather than relying only on self-reporting. Sidahmed says he is not familiar with the proposal and will follow up after reviewing it.
Brewer says agencies may not know what is expected and asks whether Sidahmed will develop training materials and roundtables. Sidahmed says the law mandates annual training and he will build materials after understanding prior agency relationships.
Brewer says the out-of-scope issue matters because the media world has changed since 2021. She asks why social media advertising is excluded; Sidahmed says he will review how predecessors defined in-scope and out-of-scope spending.
Stevens says ethnic media groups feel excluded from ad dollars and conversations. She asks how Sidahmed will conduct outreach to print and other traditional outlets as he builds his plan.
Stevens says she represents one of the city's largest and fastest-growing African communities and asks why outlets like Little Africa have received no advertising dollars this year. Sidahmed says he cannot speak to prior media plans.
Stevens asks how long it will take to understand ad spending and whether outlets must wait until year-end. Sidahmed says he hopes to finish the report by the end of the year.
Stevens presses on the transition and whether outlets will collapse while the office gets acclimated. Sidahmed repeats that he cannot speak to what happened before he arrived.
Stevens asks when Sidahmed started and says a year-end timeline is unfair to publishers. Sidahmed says he started three weeks ago and is focused on the report about past spending.
Stevens says publishers cannot reach Sidahmed if the website has no contact information. Brewer offers to help update the site and says she will call the OTI commissioner to get it fixed.
Stevens says the office sat without a leader for eight months and now publishers must wait again. She says the administration moves quickly on its priorities and that this response signals ethnic media is not a priority.
Morano asks who determines whether an outlet qualifies for the citywide marketing directory, whether criteria are public, and whether there is an appeals process. Sidahmed reads the current criteria and says he wants a more public process.
Morano poses a hypothetical: a 50-year-old paper with original reporting versus a new AI-driven or press-release operation serving the same audience. Sidahmed says he wants a community conversation about those standards.
Morano asks whether the office would publish how many outlets apply, how many are rejected, and why. Sidahmed commits to follow up after developing a transparent process.
Morano asks whether the office tracks ad spending by the communities an outlet serves rather than its headquarters, and how many Staten Island outlets are in the directory. Sidahmed says he will follow up with the data.
Brewer asks whether the city has master contracts with ad firms like Greystone or Miller and how Sidahmed will evaluate the six vendors. Sidahmed says he will get contract details from DCAS and partner with the Council on evaluation.
Brewer asks how the office will evaluate the six media placement vendors. Sidahmed says the office's role in evaluation still needs discussion and he will follow up once he understands the contracts.
Brewer asks whether Sidahmed hopes to hire additional people beyond one staffer. Sidahmed says the office will evaluate its needs and strategy over the next few months before building a team.
Stevens says the New York Coalition for Ethnic and Community Media feels left out of conversations and sometimes disfavored by the administration. She asks how Sidahmed will engage groups that push the envelope.
Stevens asks if Sidahmed has scheduled roundtables or conversations with publishers. Sidahmed says he has spoken to about a dozen publishers and has more meetings scheduled.
Stevens says media must hold government accountable even when it is adversarial and urges Sidahmed to meet the coalition. Sidahmed says as a former reporter he respects adversarial journalists and will meet them.
Brewer asks how the other 50% of agency ad spending could go to influencers or out-of-scope outlets and whether the definition of community media should change. Sidahmed says his focus is increasing in-scope dollars to directory publications.
Brewer notes some community media figures may also be influencers and asks how Sidahmed is thinking about the definition. Sidahmed says he wants agencies to understand that community publications serve their communication goals.
Brewer raises the possibility of a future health crisis, hurricane, or census and asks whether Sidahmed is planning with emergency agencies. Sidahmed agrees community media are critical conduits and says he will make that case to agencies.
Dinowitz says his district lost the Norwood News and asks what the office does or can do to support local media. Sidahmed calls the closure devastating and says the office works on the sector as a whole.
Dinowitz says the Norwood News has not been preserved and asks what work the office has done to bring it back. Sidahmed says the office helps agencies understand where to spend more with local publications.
Dinowitz asks whether agency marketing directors know the Norwood News is gone and only the Riverdale Press remains. Sidahmed says he cannot speak for every director but sees educating agencies as part of his role.
Dinowitz says the office should not merely hope agencies understand local media gaps but should treat it as an obligation. Sidahmed thanks him and agrees there is a role for educating agencies about outlets like the Norwood News.
Brewer thanks Sidahmed and says the committee looks forward to working with him. She announces the hearing will move to the next panel and then public testimony.
Brewer opens public testimony, reminds attendees that decorum must be observed, and bans video or photography from the witness table. She explains that speakers get three minutes and written testimony can be submitted by email within 72 hours.
Fauss asks the Council to pass legislation clarifying that electronic communications creating public records must be archived and retrievable. She also asks for a separate FOIL compliance hearing and supports Intros 1127, 1128, and 1129.
Fauss supports consolidating unnecessary agency reports and says Intro 1076's influencer disclosures could fit into the annual advertising report. She also asks the Council to clarify enforcement of the charter ban on electioneering communications.
Weinberg says government-paid influencer posts should be clearly disclosed as paid for by the government. He recommends mirroring federal disclosure guidelines and writing the requirement into city advertising contracts.
Weinberg says the charter has banned using public resources to influence elections since 1998, but enforcement has eroded. He asks the Council to give COIB explicit authority to issue rules and guidance on the ban.
Weinberg cites a DCAS whistleblower lawsuit involving personal phones and private emails used to avoid public records. He says the Council should ban auto-delete functions and codify instant-messaging retention in the charter, calling Brewer's working-group bill a useful first step.
Brewer thanks Fauss and Weinberg and says the bills they discussed are being drafted but were not ready for this hearing. She says the committee remains focused on them.
Davids testifies for the New York Coalition of Ethnic and Community Media and says the office had no leadership, staff, or recourse for nine months. She says publishers could not get answers about disappearing city advertising or Local Law 83 compliance.
Davids asks the Council to amend Local Law 83 to create an independent office outside the mayor's direct authority. She proposes quarterly public reporting, recipient disclosure, influencer accountability, anti-retaliation protections, stronger 50% enforcement, appeals, audits, and an independent review of 2026 ad allocations.
Hennelly says he is general manager and City Hall reporter for WBAI/Pacifica, a nonprofit community radio station on air since 1960. He describes its 9/11 coverage, free emergency information, and financial pressures including $1.3 million in operating costs and transmitter payments.
Hennelly says the Adams administration disputed his reading of Local Law 83 and that MOECM solicited an internship proposal but later said there was no money. He says a union grant will fund a new labor-reporting internship and asks the Council for help.
Tatum says the New York Amsterdam News has served the city for 117 years and that Local Law 83 was crucial to its survival. She says the Adams administration weaponized the law and ad revenue was cut nearly in half before the Mamdani administration.
Tatum says MOECM does not place ads; six advertising agencies with city contracts through 2029 do. She says those agencies favor television and radio and leave print and web outlets out, and urges the Council to investigate them and strengthen the law.
Charlie Battersby reads a statement from editor Scott Stifler saying MOECM must be empowered with authority and resources. Stifler says hyperlocal publishers constantly pull back from financial ruin and that ad agencies alone now determine which media carry city messages.
Fiala says he publishes the Red Hook Star Review and Village Star Review and has been in the business since the Koch administration. He praises Sidahmed but says MOECM should help communities and Council members understand how to reach residents across legacy and social media.
Camara introduces himself as co-chair of the Staten Island Immigrant Council and a longtime immigrant advocate from Senegal. He says African New Yorkers contribute to the city and deserve a fair share of city advertising dollars.
Camara says African community media are overlooked and asks whether Little Africa News and Sunu Africa News received city advertising. He calls for clear public spending data by agency and outlet and a public timeline for closing gaps.
Johnson says he supports the bills and the new executive director but criticizes the administration for moving press-pass goalposts. He says influencers get access while regular reporters are denied and that the administration retaliates against unflattering coverage.
Mehta says de Blasio did right by ethnic media but the current situation is causing overwhelming anxiety and he may need a part-time job. He says ethnic publishers wait three or four months for payment while mainstream media are paid in advance.
Mehta says when he called agencies about advertising, he was told the decisions come from City Hall and favor influencers. He says event access is now pick-and-choose and that ethnic media need support because they reach fast-growing communities.
Brewer thanks Mehta and says even December is too long for the office to get its funding in order given how desperately publishers need money. She promises the committee will keep pressing.
Sanchez says he has published community papers for 41 years, including the Queens Ledger and Greenpoint Star group, and is chair of Queens Community Board 5. He says local publishers are community pillars and that papers like The Wave and Leader-Observer have served readers for over a century.
Sanchez says city ad dollars have dried up and that agencies do not know community papers well. He says some non-real news organizations received ads and urges Sidahmed to meet publishers and consult the New York Press Association.
Kalita introduces URL Media and Epicenter NYC and says she represents more than a dozen New York City publishers with widely varying experiences. Some network publishers received zero advertising dollars in calendar year 2026, and she calls for an ecosystem rather than a handful of survivors.
Kalita asks for a clear Local Law 83 recovery plan, quarterly outlet-level reporting, open decision-making, modern measures beyond impressions, and regular engagement with publishers. She says advertising must never reward favorable coverage or punish scrutiny.
Brewer thanks the in-person panel and says the hearing will turn to virtual panelists. She explains that staff will unmute speakers and the sergeant at arms will set the timer.
Wisdom says she founded Harlem Network News during COVID because Black residents were not seeing themselves in media or trusting health information. She asks for immediate investment, inclusion in planning, and contacts for the new MOECM leadership.
Brewer says the committee has heard from everyone who signed up and invites anyone missed to submit a slip or raise a hand on Zoom. She notes written testimony can be submitted for 72 hours, thanks staff and witnesses, promises follow-up, and adjourns.