New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed only one bill in his first 10 months as nearly 100 measures reached his desk, while his office leaned hard into TikTok and paid influencers.
That legislative pace is now drawing scrutiny across the city. In the same stretch, Mamdani’s office poured attention into social media appearances and a network of influencers pushing city messaging, the New York Post reported.
Nearly 100 measures reached the mayor’s desk. He signed one. The rest of the picture is not a quiet veto spree. Under city rules, numerous bills were marked “returned unsigned,” a path that still lets measures become law without the mayor’s signature.
That process is not a technical footnote. Measures allowed to take effect without Mamdani’s signature included heat-related wellness checks for seniors, expanded free childcare, and rent assistance.
Those are not fringe items. They touch core city services for older residents, families, and renters. Yet they moved forward without the formal act of a mayoral signature that usually marks clear ownership of a policy.
The Post also noted that Mamdani’s bill-signing record contrasts with his predecessors. The comparison is straightforward: one signature in 10 months, against a stack of nearly 100 measures waiting for action.
While legislation sat in that unsigned lane, the mayor’s office emphasized social media. That included TikTok appearances and a wider push through influencers hired to promote city messaging.
Sources cited by the Post described delayed meetings for content planning. In plain terms, calendar time that could have gone to bill reviews and briefings was instead shaped around clips, posts, and campaign-style messaging.
A Columbia Journalism Review report added dollar figures to the influencer side of the operation. Some influencers received $5,000 to $20,000 per campaign, paid through marketing agencies.
That is real money routed into short-form promotion while the mayor’s formal signing pen stayed almost idle. City residents get the policy outcome either way when a bill becomes law unsigned. What they do not get is a clear public record of the mayor putting his name on the decision.
Governing a city of this size means hard choices about time and attention. Signing bills is one of the basic acts of executive responsibility. Letting measure after measure clear through the “returned unsigned” track shifts the public signal.
It leaves seniors’ heat checks, free childcare expansion, and rent aid moving ahead without the usual signature that ties a mayor to the result. At the same time, the office built out TikTok presence and paid influencer campaigns in the $5,000-to-$20,000 range per run.
No absolute calendar start date for the 10-month window appears in the available reporting, and the single signed bill is not named in detail. The core count is not in dispute in that coverage: one signature, nearly 100 measures, heavy social push.
New Yorkers can watch the videos. They can also count the signatures. When a mayor’s office delays meetings for content planning and pen checks to influencers while the bill stack grows, the priority list writes itself.
Taxpayers fund the city. They deserve executives who treat the signing desk as seriously as the For You page.
