Democratic Socialist Mayor Launches Nonprofit That’s Totally About Pay-to-Play
New organization follows exact same path as de Blasio’s scandal-plagued group, but assures everyone this time will be different
NEW YORK – Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani hasn’t even warmed the mayoral chair yet, and his allies have already launched a nonprofit called “Our Time” that promises to be completely different from Bill de Blasio’s scandal-soaked Campaign for One New York, which triggered federal and state corruption investigations. The new 501(c)(4) social welfare organization held its first mass call Thursday night with 650 eager volunteers, all of whom were reassured that history definitely won’t repeat itself.
The Blueprint for Ethical Ambiguity
Executive Director Jeremy Freeman, a former neuroscientist who apparently decided brain science was less complicated than New York politics, told participants the group will be “more transparent than the law requires.” This bold commitment to exceeding the legal minimum comes as watchdog groups clutch their pearls and prepare their “I told you so” statements for 2027.
“The potential for pay-to-play is always a concern, even when you have a young, idealistic democratic socialist mayor,” said John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany, somehow managing not to laugh while saying it. As comedian Bill Burr said, “Young and idealistic is just another way of saying you haven’t figured out how the game works yet.”
Freeman promised Our Time won’t accept donations from entities with business before the city, which is exactly what every nonprofit says before eventually accepting donations from entities with business before the city. The group plans to publish names of donors who give more than $1,000, though currently no names appear on their website since the organization is only a month old and apparently still figuring out how to update WordPress.
Grassroots Energy Meets Corporate Structure
The organization’s logo evokes Mamdani’s taxi-cab yellow campaign aesthetic, because nothing says “people-powered movement” like professional branding and drop-shadow graphics. The Mamdani campaign generously donated its volunteer list to the new nonprofit, creating what experts call “a beautiful synergy” and what campaign finance lawyers call “an interesting arrangement.”
Deputy Executive Director Divya Sundaram, a former Mamdani volunteer and housing rights advocate, distinguished Our Time from Organizing for America by noting they won’t make the same mistakes Obama’s supporters made. “I think the key difference is they didn’t continue the organizing that helped power them to victory,” Sundaram said, apparently unaware that OFA continued organizing for years before collapsing under the weight of its own ineffectiveness.
As Dave Chappelle said, “The problem with being idealistic is reality keeps showing up uninvited.” The group plans to dispatch hundreds of volunteers next weekend to knock on doors for universal child care, which sounds exhausting for people who thought winning the election meant they could finally sleep in on Saturdays.
The De Blasio Playbook Nobody Asked For
Our Time organizers insist they’ve studied previous mayoral nonprofit pitfalls to avoid repeating them, which is like saying you’ve read about the Titanic so your iceberg strategy is solid. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York became so entangled in investigations that both the Southern District of New York and Manhattan DA’s office issued memos essentially saying “technically not illegal, but come on, man.”
“We’re studying those efforts to avoid pitfalls,” the organizers claimed, presumably while taking notes on what de Blasio did wrong, which was everything except not getting indicted. Trevor Noah said, “Learning from history is great, but usually people learn what NOT to do, not how to do the same thing with better PR.”
The group’s first major initiative involves recruiting 15,000 volunteers for a trip to Albany to lobby state lawmakers, because nothing terrifies legislators more than thousands of enthusiastic democratic socialists descending on the capital with demands for rent freezes and free buses. As Chris Rock said, “You know what politicians love? When regular people show up and ask them to do their jobs.”
Shadow Government or Civic Engagement Theater
Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York offered the diplomatic assessment that she’s “always supportive of high energy organizing efforts” but prefers that energy “in the service of government directly, not some outside shadow agency.” In political speak, this translates to “this seems problematic, but I’ll wait for the indictments before saying I told you so.”
Guest speaker Lina Khan, former Federal Trade Commissioner and co-chair of Mamdani’s transition committee, warned participants that “some of the most powerful people in the country would love nothing more than for the mayor-elect and his team to fail.” This shocking revelation that powerful people oppose a democratic socialist agenda apparently required a former FTC chair to point out.
As Amy Schumer said, “Nothing brings people together like a common enemy, except maybe a shared delusion.” Khan emphasized that “in many ways our collective work has only just begun,” which must have thrilled the 650 volunteers who thought they’d already finished the hard part by getting Mamdani elected.
The Volunteer Army Nobody Warned You About
Freeman enthusiastically described how Mamdani campaign canvassing became “the thing” everyone asked their friends about on weekends, as if knocking on strangers’ doors in New York winter qualifies as peak social activity. He hopes Our Time canvasses will achieve the same cultural phenomenon status, competing with brunch, Netflix, and literally anything else people do on Saturdays.
“My experience in the city during the Zohran campaign is that coming to a Zohran canvas on the weekend is the thing that all your friends asked if you were doing,” Freeman said, clearly running in different social circles than people who enjoy sleeping past 9 AM. Jerry Seinfeld said, “What’s the deal with political canvassing? You wake up early, walk around in the cold, and convince strangers to support policies they’ll blame you for when taxes go up.”
The organization partnered with NYC Democratic Socialists of America’s child care working group and plans actions with NYS Tenant Bloc and Riders Alliance, creating a coalition so left-leaning it’s practically horizontal. Their January week of action for rent freezes promises to be as successful as every previous attempt to convince New York landlords to voluntarily make less money.
Transparency as Performance Art
Our Time’s commitment to transparency includes publishing donor names above $1,000, though the website currently displays zero names since the group formed only last month. This creates what transparency experts call “aspirational accountability,” where organizations promise future compliance with standards they’re not currently meeting because they haven’t had to yet.
The pledge to reject donations from entities with city business sounds principled until you realize defining “business before the city” in New York requires a team of lawyers and a philosophy degree. As Ricky Gervais said, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions and loopholes nobody saw coming.”
Freeman’s four-person paid staff aims to coordinate thousands of volunteers in what organisers describe as a “movement” and what city ethics lawyers describe as “we’ll see.” The group’s multilingual mass calls in English, Spanish, and Bangla demonstrate impressive inclusivity for an organization that might eventually need those languages for testimony before investigators.
The Inevitability of Good Intentions
Many volunteers said they felt “deeply invested” in proving Mamdani could manage the city and deliver on promises, which is touching considering managing New York City has defeated literally everyone who’s tried it. The sustained civic engagement could be critical to fulfilling the young mayor’s lofty goals, assuming “lofty” means “mathematically impossible without tripling the budget.”
As Kevin Hart said, “You know what’s harder than running for office? Actually doing the job you promised you could do.” The organization’s ambitious plans to prove Mamdani can be successful seem premature for a mayor who hasn’t actually started the job yet, but optimism is what separates idealists from realists and nonprofits from indictments.
The comparison to Michael Bloomberg’s Mayor’s Fund, which promoted public-private partnerships, seems generous considering Bloomberg was a billionaire who could afford his own controversies. Mamdani’s democratic socialist credentials theoretically immunize him from corporate influence, though history suggests power corrupts everyone eventually, especially in New York.
Ali Wong said, “The difference between idealism and reality is usually about six months in office and a corruption investigation.” Our Time’s mission to “grow the movement” and “implement and defend the affordability agenda” sounds noble until you remember New York City’s affordability crisis has survived every previous administration’s best efforts to solve it.
The organization’s plan to knock on doors, lobby legislators, and mobilize thousands represents either the future of grassroots democracy or an expensive civics lesson, depending on whether you’re an optimist or someone who’s lived in New York for more than five years. Either way, watchdog groups are already preparing their investigative files, because in New York politics, it’s not paranoia if history keeps repeating itself.