New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has repeatedly said he wants to make city government faster and more efficient by cutting through bureaucratic red tape.
One area that could come under scrutiny is the large number of reports that city agencies are legally required to produce. According to the mayor’s Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE), agencies are spending enormous amounts of staff time preparing reports that are often repetitive and may add little value.
The commission’s final report, released in late July, found that more than 2,000 separate reporting requirements are currently in place across city government. On average, more than 80 reporting laws were introduced or updated each year between 2020 and 2025.
COGE also found that city agencies collectively spend more than 125,000 staff hours every year preparing these reports.
“These reporting requirements continuously grow,” the commission said, warning that the administrative workload can take staff away from actually delivering public services.
Thousands of Reporting Requirements
The issue has also attracted attention from government watchdogs and civic researchers.
Tal Roded, a data scientist and creator of the NYCuriosity newsletter, recently analyzed city laws enacted since 2014. His research identified roughly 8,300 obligations created by about 2,100 laws.
Around 1,550 of those obligations involve reports, with nearly 850 reports required at least once a year.
The Department of Education has the largest number of reporting requirements, with 136, followed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene with 89 and the NYPD with 79.
Roded said the growing number of mandates highlights a disconnect between lawmakers who pass legislation and the agencies responsible for implementing it.
His research began after he questioned why government services could remain slow despite the steady stream of new laws intended to address public problems.
A Mechanism Already Exists
COGE has proposed strengthening an existing but little-used city body known as the Report and Advisory Board Review Commission, or RABRC.
The commission reviews legally mandated reports and can recommend eliminating or waiving requirements that are no longer necessary.
However, according to COGE, RABRC has eliminated only 28 reports since 2012. Its most recent public meeting was held in December 2024.
“The mechanism is there, but it’s not being used,” Roded said.
Mamdani’s office did not directly comment on whether RABRC would play a larger role. A mayoral spokesperson said COGE would continue developing proposals aimed at reducing bureaucracy and improving city services.
After the November election, COGE is expected to transition into an advisory board that will continue working with the mayor on government reforms.
Watchdogs Want a Balance
Good-government groups say the answer is not to eliminate reporting requirements indiscriminately.
Grace Rauh, executive director of Citizens Union, said some reports are essential for transparency and oversight. But she warned that continuously adding new reporting mandates can overwhelm agencies.
Alex Camarda of Reinvent Albany has suggested that the City Council rely more heavily on oversight hearings, informal requests for information and its subpoena powers rather than automatically creating new reporting requirements.
Council officials say legally mandated reports remain an important tool for evaluating agency performance and informing the public.
“The best solution,” said Paul Wolf, president emeritus of the New York Coalition for Open Government, is for agencies to proactively publish as much information as possible online in formats that are easy for the public to access.
For Mamdani, the challenge may be finding the right balance: reducing paperwork without reducing transparency.
