If you didn’t know Brad Lander already, you should, considering he’s in charge of your money; or more precisely, New York City’s finances.
Day in and day out, city Comptroller Lander has worked on contracts and audits, safeguarding the city's fiscal health to root out waste and fraud in local government. Now, Lander wants the coveted mayoral spot.
“What people want is a safer, more affordable and better-run city,” said Lander, a big critic of current Mayor Eric Adams, who is now running as an Independent.
Amongst the eleven other Democratic contenders, Lander is seen as one of the more left-leaning politicians due to his policies for reforming child care and building more affordable housing for working class New Yorkers.
“How many municipal golf parks do you think there are in New York City?” Lander often asks voters he meets. The Brooklyn politician said he wants to turn four out of the 12 city golf courses into state-of-the-art apartment complexes to fight the housing crisis.
“There's about 2,000 people who are homeless, living on the street and are seriously mentally ill. There are 2,500 vacant supportive housing on single room occupancy units today,” he said.
His supportive housing plan is a motivation not only to keep up with the rising population of New York, but to simultaneously tackle the homelessness crisis. Labeled the “Housing First” program, Lander hopes to provide permanent housing without prerequisite readiness requirements.
“What we want is more affordable units. We want the public housing nearby fixed up. We want more affordable space for artists. We want more open space,” he said.
The father of two currently lives in Park Slope in a townhome he bought for $125,000 in the 90s. Besides being considered a lefty, Lander also strides to be a reliable politician, someone you can turn to in a time of need. His paternal instincts play well with constituents when it comes to fixing the city's child care program, an issue he sees as a failed policy by the Adams administration.
“Eric Adams has failed as mayor and everyone knows it,” said Lander.
The comptroller, who's office is adorned with artwork by his children when they were younger, said he has helped to lessen the blow from the Adams administration on 3-K and Pre-K budget cuts, and plans to rectify the situation by restoring funds to schools and child care programs should he be elected.
“We have to fulfill the promise that every three-year-old has 3K seat and then get down into more two-year-olds and provide universal after-school for working parents,” said Lander, who added that he personally understands how expensive it is to raise a family in the city.
Due to the recent tariffs placed by the Trump administration, the comptroller stated that New York City is set to face real economic challenges. Unlike New York State, the city doesn't have sufficient preventative reserves. "We've been pushing the administration to fund what's called the 'rainy day reserve', so you have some money for when you actually have an economic downturn, but they haven't added any money in the last two years despite our constant pushing," he said.
Lander also said his policies focus on helping working class New Yorkers, unlike former Governor Andrew Cuomo who is also running for mayor. Lander is actively informing voters about the $60 million in taxpayer money Cuomo used in legal funds with regards to his personal scandals.
“Andrew Cuomo is a master of putting problems on other people. And so when he was governor, rather than step up and say, 'Let's do this together and partner on a solution,' he said, 'This one's on you New York City, good luck,'” said Lander.
Despite Cuomo’s heavy lead in recent polls, Lander said he is not worried and predicted a steady incremental rise in polls in the coming weeks.
“[Cuomo] has the most name recognition, and that's really all those polls are testing right now…he has by far the most negatives of anyone in the race,” he said.
Lander, who moved to New York from St. Louis, Mo. when he was 23, said he hopes to continue making positive changes for the city.
“New Yorkers are going to replace Adams with someone that they believe,” said Lander.
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