New York Post
· collected 2026-09-04 · by Craig McCarthy, Hannah Fierick, Matt Troutman
Emilia Winter Rowland, the head of New Media at City Hall, is defending her secret influencer army led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani by attacking "legacy press" and its wealthy owners. The 31-year-old's family has a history in public relations, including her grandfather Herb Rowland, who founded The Rowland Company before it was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985. Rowland makes $175,000 per year spoon-feeding talking points to around 250 influencers on social media, and lives near Billionaires' Row with her family's wealth estimated at a minimum of $32 million. Her remarks were made amid an ongoing controversy over the "NYC Creators Announcements" group chat she oversees on Signal.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's chief influencer, Emilia Winter Rowland, 31 years old, is the granddaughter of Joan Rowland, who founded PR firm The Rowland Agency. Rowland, whose parents also work in public relations, makes $175,000 a year spoon-feeding talking points to pro-Mamdani online personalities. Despite being part of a powerful PR empire, she defends her actions by criticizing the "legacy press" and its wealthy owners, saying they control access to information and have concentrated ownership among a few billionaires.
In related news, City Hall officials, including Chief Counsel Ramzi Kassem, admitted to breaking state record-keeping rules with a secret Signal chat filled with pro-Mamdani influencers. The chat was set to auto-delete messages until last week, when a reporter informed them about it. Kassem said they took "corrective actions" after learning of the issue, which included reminding staff to disable disappearing messages.
This comes as City Councilman Phil Wong is pushing a bill to provide guardrails for how New York City government taps influencers. The scandal has sparked concerns that Mamdani's administration is trying to sway public opinion underhandedly.
Written for “Mayor's Secret Influencer Army Scandal” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
She’s a PR princess.
asserted
She → ’ → ?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s influencer army is led by the scion of a public relations empire — who obliviously defended her shady Signal chats by slamming the “legacy press” and its wealthy owners Friday.
asserted
who → lead → press
City Hall’s head of New Media Emilia Winter Rowland’s grandfather appears to have founded The Rowland Agency, a powerhouse PR firm.
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grandfather → appear → Agency
Both of her parents work in the field, while her 100-year-old grandmother Joan Rowland lives in a $32 million condo near Billionaires’ Row, public records show.
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records → work → Row
The 31-year-old nepo baby, who makes $175,000 a year spoon-feeding talking points to Mamdani-loving online personalities, nonetheless railed against old media and the rich alike amid an ongoing furor over her propaganda pipeline.
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who → make → pipeline
“At a moment of profound distrust in politics, our job is not to preserve decades-old communications norms or protect the gatekeepers who once controlled access to public information,” she posted on X.
“The monopolization of the media has resulted in legacy press hemorrhaging readers and viewers, essential reporting often locked behind paywalls, and ownership increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of wealthy corporations and billionaires who exert their own editorial agendas over the news.”
asserted
who → preserve → news
The remarks were first made to The New York Times in a report providing a smattering of new details about the “NYC Creators Announcements” group chat Rowland oversees on the encrypted messaging app Signal, first unearthed by the Columbia Journalism Review earlier this week.
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Rowland → make → Review
Rowland, whose title is director of new media and cultural communications, joined Mamdani’s administration after wrangling influencers for the fresh-faced socialist’s mayoral campaign in 2025.
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title → join → 2025
She previously worked for the Democratic National Committee and as press secretary for Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s 2022 campaign, her LinkedIn states.
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LinkedIn → work → campaign
Working in PR is a family business of sorts for Rowland, who didn’t return calls from The Post on Friday.
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who → work → Friday
Her grandfather appears to be Herb Rowland, who founded The Rowland Company, which grew to the fifth-biggest independent PR firm before its 1985 acquisition by Saatchi & Saatchi, a behemoth London-based advertising agency, according to a New York Times report.
uncertain
which → appear → report
Emilia Rowland’s father Daryl Rowland worked as a TV writer for series such as the 1990s NBC sitcom “Mad About You” and as a blogger for The Huffington Post, his LinkedIn states.
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LinkedIn → work → Post
Daryl Rowland currently heads the Rowland Consulting branding and marketing firm.
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Rowland → head → firm
Emilia Rowland’s mother, Lisa DeBenedictis, likewise worked in TV.
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mother → work → TV
Her LinkedIn states she currently works in consulting and as a writer.
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she → state → writer
And her grandmother Joan Rowland lives on Central Park South in a eight-figure condo, records show.
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records → live → condo
Emilia Rowland’s work for Mamdani appears to be a key role in maintaining his relevancy on social media.
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work → appear → media
The Signal group chat Rowland reportedly heads doles out press releases and talking points to about 250 influencers, who blitz social media with favorable, suspiciously similar content about Mamdani and his administration.
uncertain
who → head → Mamdani
The Times report revealed that Rowland also maintains smaller Signal chats with content creators, such as one that targets parenting influencers.
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that → reveal → influencers
At least one chat was set to automatically erase messages, The Times reported — a potential violation of a state record-keeping law that aims to preserve the communications by taxpayer-funded public officials.
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that → set → officials
City Hall repeatedly ignored questions about the secret list of pro-Mamdani content creators and went into full damage control on social media trying to brush off the propaganda peddling.
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Hall → ignore → peddling
Press Secretary Dora Pekec whined on X about the “absurdity of this faux-scandal” claiming City Hall had merely shared press releases, pointing to an example that went out to both traditional reporters and influencers.
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that → whine → reporters
Everyday New Yorkers, though, will never be able to prove Pekec’s claims, because the chat had apparently been deleted.
uncertain
chat → prove → claims
A Post reporter who spent days directly pressing Pekec for answer did so again Friday, this time on the supposed bastion of transparency — social media — where she still ignored inquires.
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she → spend → inquires
Anna Bahr, the mayor’s communications director and Rowland’s boss, also defended tapping influencers and completely sidestepped questions over transparency.
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Bahr → defend → transparency
“The way people get their news has changed!
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people → get → news
Government comms has to reflect that,” she posted on X. “Anything else would be irresponsible.”
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Anything → have → X.
But not everyone was buying the admin’s spin.
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everyone → buy → spin
“Look I like Mamdani but the contention that they’re more interested in working with influencers than journalists because the corporate media is too monopolized and paywalled or whatever is just obviously bad faith and presumes the public are idiots,” reporter Jacob Fuller posted on X.
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Fuller → look → X.
