Manhattan Institute files lawsuit over six-month FOIL delays by Mamdani administration

According to the filing, the Manhattan Institute is taking legal action against the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani for allegedly using procedural excuses to postpone Freedom of Information Law requests for nearly six months. The dispute began after a scheduled meeting between Ana Maria Archila, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, and Iran’s UN ambassador was cancelled when city officials learned of it.

When the institute asked for a record of Archila’s external appointments since January, the mayor’s office promised the list only by January 11, 2027, and later denied an appeal that treated the delay as a refusal. The institute points out that about 89 % of the city’s FOIL requests this year received similar six-month responses, violating the law’s five-business-day deadline. It warns that allowing such delays could set a precedent for future leaders to sidestep transparency. The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling timely disclosure of the requested documents.