Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation
The Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation, chaired by Gale A. Brewer, held an oversight hearing on the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media (MOECM) and city advertising spending. Speaker Julie Menin gave opening remarks on Local Law 83's history and the sharp drop in city ad spending on community and ethnic media, and questioned the new executive director, Masoud Ahmed, about the office's staffing, budget, and why it went without leadership for roughly eight months. Council members pressed Ahmed on the office's placement under the mayor's communications director, the outdated website, out-of-scope advertising categories, media placement vendors, influencer spending, and the definition of who qualifies for the citywide marketing directory. The committee also heard three good-government bills sponsored by Council Member Nantasha M. Williams (Intro 1127 amending/eliminating reporting requirements, Intro 1128 on uniform report due dates, Intro 1129 on agency attestations of operational mandates) and a preconsidered bill by the chair creating a working group to study agency use of communication technologies. Thirteen members of the public and good-government organizations testified, largely in support of ethnic and community media and calling for stronger Local Law 83 enforcement and transparency. No votes were taken.
0:13 Said wait. Ok? Good morning
0:13 and welcome to today's hearing
0:18 or government operations state
0:20 and federal a at this time,
0:22 please, everyone, silence all
0:24 in any electronic devices als
0:25 o
0:25 . There is no eating food or
0:29 beverages here in the hearing
0:30 room, also at this point
0:30 moving forward no one. I
0:32 repeat, no one is to approac
0:35 hthe dais. Finally, if you wish
0:37 to submit an in person
0:38 testimony pleased to see one
0:39 of the sergeant at arms. Thank
0:40 you so much a chair and
0:43 speaker. We're ready to begin
0:45 .thank you very much. I'm Gale
0:48 Brewer, chair of committing
0:49 government operation state and
0:51 federal legislation. I want t
0:52 othank everyone for joining us
0:53 today for our hearing on the
0:55 mayor's office of ethnic and
1:00 community media members of the
1:01 public and everyone who joins
1:02 us today, I think I see a
1:04 Council Member one I don't
1:05 know what he went, but he was
1:09 here
1:09 . I'll now turn it over to
1:10 speaker men in for her opening
1:12 remarks. Thank you, speaker
1:13 minute. Thank you so much
1:15 sharper and I really want t
1:16 othank the chair for holding
1:18 this important hearing. I'm
1:19 Julie Menin, speaker of the
1:19 New York City Council and we
1:22 want to thank members of the
1:23 public for being here today
1:27 for this hearing, so thi
1:28 sissue that we are discussing
1:30 today around the mayor's
1:32 office of community and ethnic
1:34 media is not New to the City
1:36 council and it's certainly not
1:37 a New issue for me. I've long
1:40 recognized the importance of
1:41 ethnic and community media
1:44 ,which led me to start
1:44 investing in that over a
1:46 decade ago in 20 16 when I
1:48 served as commissioner of the
1:50 mayor's office of media and
1:52 entertainment. We announced a
1:55 lliomin dollars grant t
1:56 ocooney's journalism school t
1:58 ocreate New programs that would
1:59 help New York city's community
2:02 and ethnic media outlets stay
2:03 competitive and bring them
2:05 further into the digital age,
2:06 and we were really proud to
2:08 announce that program at that
2:10 announcement here is what I
2:11 said the diversity and breath
2:13 of New York city's community
2:15 and ethnic media reflects the
2:16 diversity of our City as a
2:18 whole and it is crucially
2:20 important to keep these
2:24 outlets thriving these
2:24 publications add key
2:25 perspective to our local news
2:27 landscape and they keep New
2:30 yorkers in the know whether
2:32 their native language is
2:34 english or bangla we look
2:36 forward to collaborating with
2:37 the journalism school and this
2:38 important initiative which
2:39 builds on their history of
2:41 providing excellent, excellent
2:42 training for journalists at
2:45 ethnic and community
2:46 publications so that quote
2:48 that I mentioned almost a
2:51 decade ago, still rings
2:53 incredibly true today, that is
2:55 why the council passed local
2:57 law 83 and 20 21 to formally
3:01 established the mayor's office
3:02 of ethnic and community media
3:04 codifying former Mayor De
3:06 blasio does executive order 4
3:08 7
3:08 . Local law 83 also requires
3:12 oreo agencies to spend at
3:14 least 50% of their advertising
3:18 budget on ethnic and community
3:20 media outlets.
3:21 The council passed this bill
3:24 because we recognizehe t
3:25 crucial role that community
3:26 and ethnic media plays in our
3:28 City and to address the
3:30 difficult media climate for
3:33 small publications. I also
3:34 want to add. I really
3:36 appreciate the incredible work
3:37 that our community and ethnic
3:39 media outlets provide, and
3:39 sdirector. We proudly allocated
3:45 half of our media budget to
3:48 community and ethnic outlets
3:49 all across the City of New
3:53 York, so I do want to say that
3:53 when former Mayor De blasio
3:55 made that change and policy
3:56 and the council passed that
3:58 law it had a significant
4:00 impact prior to the
4:02 implementation of executive
4:03 order 47 and local law 83 82
4:07 %of the city's advertising
4:08 spending went to large
4:10 mainstream media outlets,
4:11 whereas ethnic and community
4:12 media outlets only received
4:15 $2.7 million in the city's
4:18 advertising budget by 20 20,
4:19 the first full year of
4:21 implementation that amount
4:22 increased to $9.9 millio
4:25 ncities spending on ethnic and
4:27 community media peaked in 2
4:29 022 when it reached a high of
4:33 $23.1 million in fiscal year
4:37 20 25 57% of City agencies
4:38 overall advertising spending
4:41 went towards ethnic and
4:42 community media. It was 51%
4:44 for fiscal year 24 and 40% fo
4:47 rfiscal year 23. However, that
4:50 has not translated into
4:53 greater monetary benefits
4:55 because overall advertising
4:57 spending has decreased
5:00 significantly in fiscal year
5:01 20 20 to the City spent $260
5:04 million on advertising across
5:05 all media outlets, however,
5:07 that number dropped in fiscal
5:10 year in fiscal year 2 4 in 2
5:17 024, just 7 million of those
5:18 dollars went to ethnic and
5:20 community media less than a
5:21 third of what it was two years
5:25 before that.
5:25 So what has changed and why
5:27 is the City spending on media
5:29 so much lower than it was just
5:30 a few years ago. I'm over the
5:33 past summer, the council
5:34 convened a series of forums to
5:37 better understand this issue
5:38 between and of this year we
5:40 hosted a with black, asian and
5:43 latino community media outlets
5:44 at City Hall, bringing
5:47 together journalists and
5:47 publishers and I know many of
5:48 you came to that and we really
5:50 appreciate that in.
5:51 These meetings we heard
5:53 firsthand concerns about the
5:56 city's drastically decreased
5:58 media spending and investments
5:59 in ethnic and community media.
6:03 Furthermore, participants
6:03 expressed concerns about not
6:05 having a point of contact
6:07 within in City and theyelt f
6:08 that they didn't know how to
6:11 contact the administration and
6:12 that lines of connections that
6:13 they had during previous
6:17 administrations who are now
6:17 not existent. Many also convey
6:19 that they're outlets are
6:21 facing unprecedented financial
6:22 troubles in this very
6:24 challenging media environment
6:25 for local media across the
6:28 country and significant
6:28 decrease ad buys from the City
6:31 have just exacerbated those
6:33 difficulties. I know many are
6:34 concerned about the moving and
6:37 staffing of the mayor's office
6:39 of ethnic and community media.
6:41 I ksonow I have some
6:42 questions about that. I know
6:43 the chair has some questions
6:44 about that and we are here t
6:45 oget answers from the
6:47 administration to hear from
6:48 members of the media and to
6:50 understand how we can support
6:53 this crucial sector which
6:53 reaches all of the diverse
6:56 communities in New York City
6:59 with vital, culturally
6:59 sensitive reporting. We must
7:01 do more to invest in our
7:02 ethnic and community media. So
7:04 thank you so much chair,
7:05 Brewer, and let me turn it
7:05 back to you,
7:06 thank you very much and I
7:07 think during the pandemic.
7:09 Some of the federal money
7:10 helped a lot
7:10 . And you could see the
7:13 difference because health
7:14 information got out and then
7:14 you did a great job during the
7:18 census doing the same, so w
7:18 eknow how important that media
7:19 is in addition to oversight,
7:21 we will be hearing four bills,
7:23 the first bill intro not 1 100
7:26 to 7 mantra by counsel member
7:30 Williams relation to mending
7:32 and eliminating certain
7:33 reporting requirements within
7:34 the New York City charter and
7:36 the administrative code of the
7:37 City of New York intro number
7:41 11 28, also sponsored by
7:42 Council Member Williams and
7:43 relation to do dates of agenc
7:47 yreports to the council intro
7:49 100 to 9 in relation to the
7:51 agency transmissions of
7:53 reports of compliance with
7:56 operational requirements and
7:56 pre considered intro, which I
7:59 sponsored and wait until the
8:00 creation of a working group t
8:02 ostudy agency use of
8:05 communication technologies,
8:06 local law 83 like executive
8:09 order 47 before and 83 just
8:11 codified and added to requires
8:15 agency to spend as you heard
8:16 earlier at least 50% of their
8:18 advertising budget with ethnic
8:20 and community media outlets we
8:22 . Are hearing from community
8:22 and ethnic media outlets that
8:26 under the current Mayor you're
8:28 seeing them up 200% drop in
8:30 City advertising revenue since
8:33 Mayor manda me took office, we
8:34 would like to find out whether
8:36 this is true and if so, why
8:38 City advertising with these
8:40 outlets has decreased so
8:41 drastically between one
8:42 administration on another
8:45 local law 83 of 20 21
8:49 requirement that agencies
8:51 spend at least 50% of their
8:53 budget, they advertising
8:55 budget on ethnic and community
8:57 media doesn't apply to the
8:59 agencies entire spending
9:02 budget, but to spending on
9:04 broadcast, print and digital
9:08 advertising, other types of
9:08 advertising such as social
9:10 media and digital dis ways are
9:12 considered out of scope and
9:14 not subject to the 50%
9:16 spending requirement they
9:16 might not have existed in 2
9:19 021
9:19 . Agencies can also be granted
9:24 waivers if they were acquired
9:24 by statute court order or
9:26 legal mandate to publish
9:28 information in media outlets
9:29 that reads all New yorkers or
9:31 as if an a war if, as an
9:34 agency they depend on less
9:35 than five grand per year on
9:39 advertising. There's quite a
9:40 long list that spend less than
9:43 $5000 a year. Local law 83,
9:44 also created the office of
9:45 ethnic and community media,
9:46 which is tasked with
9:48 submitting an annual report on
9:51 agencies spending on ethnic
9:52 and community meat as well as
9:53 developing and maintaining a
9:55 directory of community and
9:58 ethnic media outlets for
9:58 agency when complying with
10:01 local 83 spending mandate and
10:03 looking at the most recent 2 5
10:06 report looks, it's about 293
10:08 such media outlets.
10:12 I wanted his first days in
10:13 office, the Mayor mood the
10:14 office of ethnic and community
10:17 media into the office of mass
10:20 engagement, ethnic and
10:20 community media outlets
10:21 welcome the move they viewed
10:23 it as a signal that that media
10:25 was being valued as both
10:27 channels for a messaging, but
10:29 also as partners in helping
10:30 New York, it's understand and
10:32 participate in civic life.
10:35 However, that didn't happen,
10:36 the executive director, left
10:37 at the end of 2 5 and no New
10:41 executive director, was
10:42 fwas moved again this time into
10:48 the mayor's directive,
10:51 communications office when
10:52 asked about oh c m. At a
10:53 previous hearing, the
10:54 commissioner of the office of
10:56 math engagement was unable to
10:57 answer the questions about the
10:59 office despite it being part
11:00 of mass engagement for a year,
11:04 the commissioner referred
11:04 questions, so the director of
11:06 we hope the New executive
11:08 director. Thank you for being
11:09 here today will be able t
11:10 oaddress the many concerns we
11:13 are hearing from community and
11:13 ethnic media outlets as well
11:17 as the questions we have about
11:17 the function of the office,
11:19 including the website
11:22 . In addition to oversight of
11:23 the mayor's office of ethnic
11:25 and community. Mita and
11:26 government spending on ads, we
11:28 will be here in my bill pre
11:30 considered intro, which would
11:31 create as I heard early as you
11:33 heard earlier a group to the
11:33 study agency used of
11:40 communication technologies,
11:41 and I hear you. Last month we
11:42 heard about a signal group
11:43 used by the Mayor t
11:44 ocommunicate with social media
11:46 influencers on how for a
11:47 period of time. The messages
11:48 were set to auto delete, which
11:52 upsets me because I'm a big
11:56 oil addict.
11:56 At the same hearing the
11:57 commission of doris explained
11:58 that instant messages are
12:01 considered transitory.
12:01 And therefore there's no
12:02 requirement that they be
12:05 archived.
12:06 While there are legitimate
12:06 uses for City employees to use
12:08 encrypted method ing like a
12:11 signal incredibly important
12:12 that we keep records of all
12:16 official communications. This
12:17 bill would require doris to
12:18 establish a working group to
12:21 study the instant electronic
12:23 method used by the City
12:25 agencies and submit
12:29 recommendations.
12:30 I also want to highlight the
12:31 three good government bills.
12:31 We are hearing today, it is
12:34 important to the City to
12:36 reevaluate the local laws that
12:37 passes, especially those
12:39 that require City agencies to
12:40 collect and report out data
12:43 reviewing and making sure tha
12:44 tthe information we received
12:46 this timely, relevant and
12:46 worth the burden is an
12:49 exercise and good government
12:50 and will be can repeal
12:53 unnecessary duplicative or
12:55 outdated reporting
12:55 requirements it makes it all
12:56 the more worth it.
13:00 Would that mind and hearing
13:01 in my mind. We are hearing
13:03 intro. 11 27 As I said earlier
13:05 . Sponsored by a council
13:06 member Williams, who will make
13:07 a statement in a minute and
13:10 amends and eliminate certain
13:12 reporting requirements withi
13:13 nthe City charter and the admin
13:17 cold intro. 11 28 Months of
13:17 Williams and men to do dates
13:19 of agency reports of the
13:21 council 11 29 minutes, agency
13:24 transmissions of reports and
13:28 of compliance with operational
13:29 requirements. I want to thank
13:31 the following counsel staff
13:32 for their work on this hearing
13:35 from government ups committee
13:36 staff to hurry. Frazier, erica
13:40 cohen and signal human and
13:41 from my staff. Schuler, pooter
13:44 and.
13:44 Cynthia warning, I think
13:45 we'll now hear from, got got
13:47 to remember with, but I also
13:48 want to mention council
13:50 weighing and I did mention the
13:52 Council Member, but he had
13:53 gone to get some coffee at the
13:57 time
13:57 . Think that's it. Okay? We'd
13:58 love to hear from you,
13:59 counselor Williams. Thank you
14:00 so much good morning, everyon
14:01 e. I would like to thank
14:03 speaker mennen and chair, bro.
14:04 Order for being here today in
14:05 convening this hearing on the
14:06 merits ofthis is ethnic and
14:09 community media and government
14:09 spending on advertisement
14:12 sgovernment cannot be
14:13 responsible to the people. I