Many news outlets, including CBS News New York, were excluded from Mayor Zohran Mamdani's first official City Hall press conference Wednesday.

CBS was in touch with the mayor's team all day. Our reporters were told the room was at capacity. We offered to go in with just a cellphone and were told "maybe," but ultimately, we were excluded, along with other outlets.

The decision is raising questions about media access and transparency.

So-called "new media" invited to press conference

Instead of CBS News and other established outlets, only so-called "new media" was allowed inside the room for the press conference.

"We need to speak to New Yorkers through every single medium ... And all of you are such critical parts of that," Mamdani told them.

Among those invited was Avelyn Castillo, an influencer originally from New York who now lives in Atlanta and flew to the city for the event.

"I think that, overall, people are starting to realize the influence that we have as creators in our different sectors," she said.

The press conference ended with a selfie.

"The questions were still asked," Castillo said. "The pressure was still on."

"Part of the mayor's job is to be accountable to the public"

There's no legal right to attend press conferences, according to attorney Richard Schoenstein, and, increasingly, politicians from both parties want to bypass journalists.

"Part of the mayor's job is to be accountable to the public," Schoenstein said. "And that means giving the public access and that means broad access, not just the people you like."

"You know, I think that's a positive for New Yorkers. I just think that everybody needs to be in that tent," said Jere Hester, a professor at CUNY Newmark Journalism School. "So, look, the Blue Room is the place where the mayor has press conferences ... so for the mayor to do this, it's symbolic."

On Thursday, the mayor, alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced plans for free universal child care. During the Q&A, CBS News New York's Mahsa Saeidi tried to ask the mayor about transparency, but off-topic questions weren't allowed.

CBS News New York did reach out to the mayor's office about this story, but it did not get back to us.