Published in Tech Policy Press, this piece shows how Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani can make New York a model for people-centered technology by resisting surveillance and investing in affordability, dignity, and justice.
In November 2025, I wrote a piece for Tech Policy Press titled Mayor-Elect Mamdani Can Build a Tech Agenda for New York and a Model for the Country about how Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani can translate his campaign’s commitments on housing, labor, and justice into a coherent technology agenda. Drawing from his legislative record and the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform, the piece examines how local policy can be a site of resistance to surveillance and corporate capture—reclaiming technology for collective benefit rather than extraction.
The article proposes a four-pillar framework for municipal technology policy: (1) building a Digital Sanctuary City to protect residents from federal surveillance and data-sharing; (2) protecting workers from algorithmic exploitation and automation; (3) ensuring fair pricing and banning data-driven price discrimination; and (4) investing in public digital infrastructure, such as city-owned broadband and community Wi-Fi.
Across these themes, I argue that New York can demonstrate what democratic technology governance looks like in practice. Through executive action, coalition-building, and public investment, Mamdani’s administration can show that technology need not deepen inequality; it can be reimagined as public infrastructure that sustains affordability, accountability, and collective care.