NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he’s forming a new Commission of Government Efficiency, or COGE, to improve the way City Hall spends public funds.
“This commission will find ways for our city to work smarter, faster and more efficiently for working people,” Mamdani wrote in a post on X on Thursday. “New Yorkers deserve a city government as careful with their money as they are.”
The branding invites inevitable comparisons with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the controversial and now defunct Trump administration project that was designed to slash spending and shrink the bureaucracy.
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk leaves the stage holding a chainsaw after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Mamdani said the effort will be led by Patrick Gaspard, a former US ambassador to South Africa. The mayor also proposed selecting Ann Cheng as executive director. COGE plans to hold 10 public hearings across the city and then proposals will be on this November’s ballot, Mamdani said in a statement.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has primarily sought to raise taxes to cover a gaping budget deficit and fund a progressive agenda, including free buses, free childcare and an ambitious program to construct affordable housing. But he’s said in the past that he would look to cut some funding to bloated city agencies, including the Department of Education, and campaigned on reforming the procurement process to save the city money.
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