New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to launch a livestream series called "Talk with the People" on Thursday afternoon, his office said. The program will originate on Twitch and also be available on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other major social platforms.

"With the launch of 'Talk with the People,' we're bringing City Hall directly to the platforms where New Yorkers already spend their time," Mamdani said in a statement. "By hosting the country's first recurring cross-platform stream led by an elected official, where New Yorkers can ask questions live on Twitch, we're opening up a new conversation between government and the people it serves, especially younger generations who have too often been ignored."

A member of Mamdani's digital team first proposed the idea and staff workshopped it for about a month, a senior aide said. The aide said he was enthusiastic about the project when presented with the proposal, and is relatively new to Twitch but has watched streamers who play the FIFA video game and discuss soccer.

The show will take various formats, with the mayor sometimes appearing alone and other times with aides, city workers or other streamers, the aide said. The mayor is scheduled to host the live show every other week at the same time.

"It's going to be a little different every time," the aide said of the program. "The idea is that we keep it dynamic within a regular framework."

The aide identified scheduling as the principal obstacle. "The main challenge is just getting on his schedule, but I think there are definitely going to be tough days where maybe he's going to get asked questions that he doesn't necessarily want to answer," the aide said. "Part of the job of being mayor is still having to be in front of your constituents every single day. The world is the limit. The point is that he's out there regularly talking to people about what's going on in the city."

Mamdani posted on X a photo of himself seated in front of microphones bearing logos of social apps alongside a photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt delivering a radio address. The title of the new series was inspired by a 1940s radio broadcast hosted by New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. LaGuardia's Sunday broadcast, named "Talk to the People," premiered in January 1942 and ran until December 1945, according to the U.S. Library of Congress.

"LaGuardia used the most cutting-edge technology of his era to break through traditional gatekeepers and connect with working people across the city," the mayor's office said in a news release. "Today, Mayor Mamdani is building on that legacy for a new generation." Twitch initially focused on livestreaming video games and has since expanded to include politics and other interests.