City Hall takes official information directly to mobile phones.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — July 2026. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has launched El Chisme Oficial de NYC, a Spanish-language WhatsApp channel designed to connect residents directly with City Hall. His administration also relaunched the municipal government’s Spanish-language Instagram account. The initiative seeks to make official information more accessible to communities that primarily communicate in Spanish.
The channels will distribute updates on immigration, housing, employment, health, public transportation and assistance programs for families. Residents will also receive public-safety information, community resources and announcements about municipal events. Content will include photographs, videos and occasional voice messages from Mamdani and other city officials.
The WhatsApp channel attracted more than 1,300 followers within its first 24 hours. Every Wednesday, it will publish a weekly summary featuring the principal developments New Yorkers need to know. One of its earliest announcements concerned Gotham FC’s planned relocation to Queens in 2028.
The Instagram account, operating under the name Ciudad de Nueva York, will centralize information that previously required residents to follow numerous municipal agencies. The administration says the strategy reflects the daily use of WhatsApp and Instagram among New York’s Latino communities. More than 2.5 million city residents speak Spanish at home.
Mamdani said residents should not have to search through multiple agencies to understand the services available to them. By adopting the informal term “chisme,” or gossip, City Hall is presenting government communication in a familiar and culturally recognizable format.
New York is bringing public information closer to the language of its communities.