New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last month unveiled Public Interest Technology (PIT) Crews, a five-team civic-tech program announced at the 900-foot go-kart oval at Coney Island’s Luna Park. According to WIRED, the initiative pairs small groups of engineers and designers with city agencies to rapidly build specialized apps that solve real problems — an attempt to change what WIRED described as the "hidebound and confusing tenor" of current city services.
A Go-Kart Launch for a Civic-Tech Squad
The launch venue was deliberate, WIRED reported: Mamdani zipped around the track, then stepped to the podium to unveil the program. PIT will consist of five crews that, the mayor promised, will "raise the bar for what New Yorkers can expect from City Hall." His pitch echoed the 2014 recruiting message that Barack Obama’s chief technology officer, Todd Park, used to assemble the United States Digital Service (USDS).
We want to transform how New Yorkers interact with the government. We want to raise expectations on what government can deliver, because we really can deliver. — Mamdani, as reported by WIRED
WIRED noted that Mamdani’s approach "embraces Silicon Valley expertise while taking a skeptical, almost adversarial, stance toward Big Tech itself." The combination of mayoral charisma and a chance to build software that doesn’t serve advertisers, the military, or the pocketbooks of centibillionaires makes the PIT program an attractive change of pace for some techies. The teams are based in the Brooklyn headquarters of New York City’s Office of Technology and Innovation.
From USDS to PIT
The USDS, WIRED reported, was an idealistic effort to bring top Silicon Valley talent into the executive branch and bypass the logjams caused by outdated and inefficient IT by building great, user-centric software. The agency survived the first Trump administration and continued through the Biden term. In 2025, Elon Musk and his DOGE wrecking crew infiltrated the agency and pulled the plug on much of the useful work. Now, with the National Design Service, WIRED stated, the Trump administration is ostensibly trying to revive some of what it destroyed.
Lisa Gelobter’s Engineering Mandate
Mamdani’s transition team tapped Lisa Gelobter for the city’s chief technology officer job. Gelobter’s résumé includes stints at big companies and startups, but the standout item, WIRED reported, was her post at USDS, where she was embedded in the Department of Education. She led the effort to create a College Scorecard that focused on nuts-and-bolts criteria like costs and graduation rates.
“I’m really excited about trying to recapture that essence, that energy here,” Gelobter said. Her budget for the program is $5.24 million, with an additional $2 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, which will fund one of the crews.
Gelobter said she brings an engineering mindset to city government: “I know how to build software. I know how to run a technology organization from a technology perspective.” She also brought a cultural shift — she described wearing jeans to work as a statement, the same norm-breaking that occurred when USDS had to overcome objections from bureaucrats who didn’t want to meet with anyone wearing a hoodie.
What the PIT Crews Look Like
The two people Gelobter hired to run the PIT crew program are also USDS veterans: Luke Farrell and Maya Israni.
| Program detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Number of PIT crews | 5 |
| City budget | $5.24 million |
| Rockefeller Foundation grant | $2 million |
| Grant purpose | Funds one of the crews |
| Program leaders | Luke Farrell, Maya Israni (USDS veterans) |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn office of NYC Office of Technology and Innovation |
For enterprise technology leaders watching public-sector software procurement, the PIT model is notable for its structure: named USDS-trained program leads, a city funding line, an independent foundation grant, and a mission to build software that serves citizens rather than advertisers or military clients. WIRED reported that the projects Gelobter and her team choose to tackle will set a tone for how the government works under a mayor who launched the initiative from the driver’s seat of a go-kart.
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