Brad Lander | |
|---|---|
 Lander in 2023 | |
| 45thComptroller of New York City | |
| In office January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Scott Stringer |
| Succeeded by | Mark Levine |
| Member of theNew York City Council from the39th district | |
| In office January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Bill de Blasio |
| Succeeded by | Shahana Hanif |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bradford Scott Lander (1969-07-08)July 8, 1969 (age 56) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Socialists of America (until October 2023)[a] |
| Spouse | Meg Barnette |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Chicago (BA) University College London (MSc) Pratt Institute (MS) |
| Signature |  |
Bradford Scott Lander (born July 8, 1969)[1] is an American politician and urban planner who served as the 45thNew York City comptroller from 2022 until 2025. AprogressiveDemocrat,[2] Lander was elected to theNew York City Council in 2009, serving for twelve years, later serving as Deputy Leader for Policy.[3] His district was partly based inBrooklyn. Lander waselected city comptroller in 2021 and assumed office on January 1, 2022.
Born in suburbanSt. Louis, Lander's political career has been rooted inNew York City since the 1990s, where he has become a mainstay in progressive activism.[4]
In July 2024, Lander announced he would challenge incumbent MayorEric Adams in the2025 New York City mayoral election.[5]The New York Times Opinion panel andEzra Klein chose Lander as their top choice for theDemocratic primary for mayor separately.[6] He conceded defeat in the primary election toZohran Mamdani on June 24, 2025. His decision to cross-endorse and campaign with Mamdani was considered crucial to his victory in the primary due to the city'sranked choice voting system.[7]
On December 10, 2025, Lander announced his candidacy for the2026 primary election in New York's 10th congressional district againstDan Goldman from the left. He launched with endorsements from Mamdani, SenatorsBernie Sanders andElizabeth Warren,Jumaane Williams and theWorking Families Party.[4][8]
Brad Lander is the son of Carole Lander and David Lander, a bankruptcy attorney.[9] He grew up inCreve Coeur, a suburb ofSt. Louis,Missouri, in aReform Jewish family,[10][11][12] and graduated fromParkway North High School in 1987.[13] He developed an early interest in politics, and was particularly influenced by civil rights leadersMartin Luther King Jr. andAbraham Joshua Heschel.[11] His first experience organizing came with a march for Jewish Soviet refugees in Washington.[11] Lander earned a bachelor's degree from theUniversity of Chicago in 1991, where he received aHarry S. Truman Scholarship, and joined theDemocratic Socialists of America (DSA).[14][15] He earned master's degrees in anthropology fromUniversity College London on aMarshall Scholarship and inurban planning fromPratt Institute.[16]
From 1993 to 2003, Lander was the executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), aPark Slope non-profit organization that develops and managesaffordable housing.[17][11][18] For his work he received the 2000New York Magazine Civics Award, and FAC received the 2002 Leadership for a Changing World award (sponsored by the Washington, D.C.–basedInstitute for Sustainable Communities).[19][17]
From 2003 to 2009, Lander was a director of the university-basedPratt Center for Community Development. In that position, he was a critic of theBloomberg administration's development policies.[11][20][21][22] He has also been a critic of theAtlantic Yards project.[23] Lander's work in 2003–2005 on Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning led to the first New York City inclusionary housing program to create affordable housing in new development outside Manhattan.[24] Lander served on a mayoral taskforce that recommended reforms to the421-a tax exemption for luxury housing and required that new development in certain areas of the city set aside affordable housing units.[25][26] He co-led the completion of the One City One Future platform, a progressive vision for economic development in New York City.[27][28] He stepped down as head of the organization in 2009 to seek a seat on theNew York City Council.[29] Lander teaches as an adjunct professor atBrooklyn Law School.[30]
Lander represented the 39th district in New York City Council from 2009 until 2021, when term limits prevented him from running again. He is a co-founder of theProgressive Caucus in the New York City Council.[31] For his first term, Lander shared the title of co-chair of the caucus with his Manhattan colleague, SpeakerMelissa Mark-Viverito.[32]
In 2009, Lander ran to represent the 39th district on the New York City Council, including the Brooklyn neighborhoods ofBoerum Hill,Borough Park,Brooklyn Heights,Carroll Gardens,Cobble Hill,Flatbush,Gowanus,Green-Wood Cemetery,Kensington,Park Slope,Prospect Heights,Prospect Lefferts Gardens,Red Hook,Prospect Park,South Slope,Sunset Park, andWindsor Terrace.[33] He won the hotly contested Democratic primary on September 15, 2009, with 41% of the vote in a field of five and appeared on the general election ballot on theDemocratic Party andWorking Families Party lines.[34] On November 4, 2009, he won with 70% of the vote. After his first four-year term, Lander was reelected on the Democratic and Working Families Parties' lines in 2013 to serve for a second term.
Lander was one of four Council members who broughtparticipatory budgeting to New York City, which allows citizens to propose, develop, and vote on items in the municipal budget.[35] Over half of the 51 New York City Council Districts now engage in participatory budgeting.[36]
In 2013, Lander played a key role in a campaign to passpaid sick leave over Mayor Bloomberg's veto, telling theBrooklyn Reporter that the legislation would "make our city a fairer, more compassionate place to live and work".[37] In 2015, Lander passed legislation to ban discriminatory employment credit checks, ending the practice of companies discriminating against people because of their credit history.[38]In March 2015, outside a Park Slope, Brooklyn car wash that was closed at the time, Lander was arrested for blocking traffic to show support for eight striking car washers; it was his fourth arrest.[39][40][41] In November 2016, he announced his intention to get arrested as part of the "Fight for $15" National Day of Action, saying it was: "part of a long tradition of civil disobedience, and it takes a little courage".[42]
Lander has crafted a number of workers' rights policies. In 2017, he passed legislation to require fast food and retail companies to give their workers stable scheduling and restrict on-call scheduling and last-minute changes.[43][44] Lander also sponsored a successful bill to prevent fast food workers from being fired withoutjust cause and to allow them to appeal terminations through arbitration.[45] He worked with theFreelancers Union to create the "Freelance Isn't Free Act," the first legislation of its kind to ensure that freelancers and independent contractors are paid on time and in full.[46] In 2018, Lander successfully achieved the first ruling in the country that guaranteed a living wage forUber,Lyft and other for-hire drivers.[47] By April 2020, Lander had sponsored over 2,254 articles of legislation.[48]City and State New York ranked Lander's performance in the lower half of all New York City lawmakers, placing him 30th out of the 51 councilmembers; the ranking criteria included total number of bills introduced, the number of bills signed into law, attendance, and responsiveness to questions from constituents and from the media.[49]
Lander opposed rezoning the site ofLong Island College Hospital to includeaffordable housing.[50] In July 2017, he was the primary sponsor of 20 local laws enacted by the City Council and signed by themayor.[51] In addition, Lander played a role in helping shepherd the Community Safety Act through the New York City Council for final passage, along with councilmemberJumaane Williams.[52] In 2017, Lander worked with advocates at the Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development andMake the Road New York to create a Certificate of No Harassment program that provides the strongest protections againsttenant harassment and displacement of any law in the country.[53] As part of the #TooHotToLearn campaign, Lander led the push to secure air-conditioning for allNew York City Public Schools classrooms, shining a spotlight on the 25 percent of classrooms that did not have it.[54]
Starting in 2019, Lander has drawn criticism and, in his words, "anger" and "suspicion", for vocally supporting contracts for twohomeless shelters in particular.[55] Opponents of the shelters claimed that those contracts contain up to $89 million of unexplained cost compared to contracts for equivalent shelters, and that costs were too high at $10,557 per unit per month.[56][57][58][59][60][61] Starting in 2020, Lander has been a leading advocate of a program that has moved over 9,500homeless people (Lander's goal is 30,000 homeless) to vacant hotel rooms across New York City to provide space for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, at an average cost of $174 per room per night (or $5,293 per person per month).[62][63][64] The proposal drew intense criticism from New York MayorBill de Blasio'sNew York City Department of Social Services, which Lander called "cartoonish insults".[64] The program drew strong reactions from neighborhood residents, with some residents calling the homeless men "subhuman" and claiming the program led to increases in crime, open drug sales and drug use, public sex acts, and street harassment, and worrying about the risk of havingsex offenders housed near a public school; other residents were more open to the program, and the owner of a restaurant next door to the hotel reported that, despite some residents' alarm, there had been no problems.[65][63][66]
In January 2021 he said: "As a white man, [the work of racial justice] starts by listening as honestly as I can to Black people about the anger and pain they are feeling, and the system ofwhite supremacy and systemic racism it reflects. That is not easy – because it implicates me...."[67] He supported removing thestatue of Christopher Columbus fromColumbus Circle in Manhattan.[67]
Lander's council district included large numbers of Jewish and Muslim people. According toThe Forward, Lander has worked to balance relationships with both groups, "befriending both the far-right Brooklyn politicianDov Hikind and the pro-Palestinian activist and organizerLinda Sarsour".[12] Hikind criticized Lander and other progressive politicians for not distancing themselves from Sarsour, citing hercriticism of Israel and past associations with controversial figures such asLouis Farrakhan.[12][11][68]
In 2020, Lander wrote that he had visited theWest Bank to learn more about conditions under theIsraeli occupation and expressed support for efforts to achieve Palestinian human rights.[69]
In March 2023, Lander wrote an op-ed in the left-wing Israeli newspaperHaaretz urging PresidentJoe Biden and Secretary of StateAntony Blinken to stop providing a "blank check" to an "increasingly authoritarian" Israeli government and asked Democrats to stop obeying thepro-Israel lobby groupAIPAC. He wrote that he participated in a protest outside the Israeli consulate in solidarity with the2023 Israeli judicial reform protests.[70]
Lander left the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023 after theOctober 7 attacks.[71] In a September 2025 speech, Lander championed the creation of an alliance "ofanti-Zionists andliberal Zionists" seeking to end "the horrors in Gaza" in an appearance with Mamdani before the 2025 NYC mayoral election.[72][73] According toNew York, he is "a liberal Zionist who has calledIsrael's war in Gaza agenocide and supports conditioning military aid" to Israel[74] In a December 2025 interview withZeteo, he said that if elected he would vote to recognize a Palestinian state and would oppose the sale of offensive weapons to Israel. Lander also strongly opposed the censure of Rep.Rashida Tlaib while calling for Rep.Randy Fine to be censured for his Islamophobic comments, including calls for genocide ofAmerican Muslims.[75]
In March 2020, as theCOVID-19 pandemic began, Lander urged that the police suspend criminal arrests, summonses, warrant enforcement, and parole violations for low-level offenses, and release most of the over 900 people incarcerated atRikers Island who were over 50 years old.[76] Lander voiced support fordefunding the police and limiting police powers by cutting their budget by $1 billion in 2020.[77] In June 2020, Lander announced: "It is time todefund the police".[78] In December he called for the disbandment of theNew York City Police Department Vice Unit, anddecriminalizing prostitution.[79][67]
In May 2016, Lander was criticized by unnamed Asian-American groups for calling supporters of Yungman Lee, who was challengingNydia Velazquez for her seat in the House of Representatives, "scumbags". Lander said he was talking about dark money entities supporting Lee.[80] In December 2017, Lander was arrested inside theU.S. Capitol while protesting a bill that decreased taxes on corporations and wealthy people while cutting healthcare; he tweeted, "Being arrested withAdy Barkan in the halls of Congress while ... fighting for a country where we provide health care for those who need it ... is something I'll remember for the rest of my life".[81] In June 2018 he was arrested for blocking traffic, disorderly conduct, and failing to disperse at a protest outside the Brooklyn office of State SenatorMarty Golden.[82]
In 2019, Lander admitted to anethics violation for using his official government position to solicit monetary donations for a progressive nonprofit he helped create and of which he was chairman.[83][84] Lander had previously served as chair of the council's Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections.[85] In his second term on the council, Lander served as the deputy leader for policy.[3]
Facing term limits for his council seat after his third term, Lander announced his candidacy for the2021 New York City Comptroller election,[3][16] an open race as the incumbent,Scott Stringer, also faced term limits.[3][16] He said that if elected he would expand the office to conduct equity audits to reduce disparities across race, gender, and ethnicity, including in how city agencies hire contractors.[67] He said he would also use the office as an organizing vehicle for advocates, and produce audits, draft reports, and release data in partnership with organizers running campaigns centered on racial, social, and economic justice.[67] Lander received endorsements from theWorking Families Party, unions includingCommunications Workers of America District 1, and various Democratic clubs and community organizations.[86] He was endorsed by progressive elected officials including Warren, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, CongresswomanNydia Velázquez, CongresswomanAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and members of the New York City Council and New York State legislature.[87][88][89][90]
Lander won the Democratic primary against State SenatorBrian Benjamin, entrepreneur and former US MarineZach Iscol, New York State SenatorKevin Parker, former Public Advocate and former New York City Council SpeakerCorey Johnson, and New York State AssemblymemberDavid Weprin, among others,[91] and went on to win the general election over Republican candidate Daby Carreras.[92]
In 2022, Lander called for ending421a, a program that provided tax incentives for developers of market-rate apartments who also added below-market rentals.[93] According to theNew York Times, at the time it was "the most generous property tax break in the city, costing New York City about $1.77 billion annually in lost tax revenue".[93] Lander and other critics describe it as a subsidy for developers in exchange for few low-income units while supporters said it encouraged housing construction and alleviated the housing shortage in New York.[93] The program was not renewed by the New York legislature.[93]
In March 2022, Lander called on MayorEric Adams to abandon his effort to shift retired municipal workers onto a newMedicare program and comply with a court order declaring the move illegal.[94] He subsequently refused to register the city's contract withAetna, citing pending legislation that called the program's legality into question, but Adams overrode his decision and registered the contract.[95] In 2024, theNew York Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the Adams administration could not force the retirees to switch to the new health plan.[95]
Lander developed a reputation as afoil to Mayor Adams, frequently criticizing or using the comptroller's oversight role to challenge his policies.[96] In 2023,Politico called Lander Adams' "archrival".[96] In February 2025, Lander released a public letter to MayorEric Adams threatening to convene a meeting of theInability Committee if Mayor Adams did not "develop and present a detailed contingency plan outlining how you intend to manage the City of New York."[97]
Lander is a member of the Vote Blue Coalition, a progressive group andfederal PAC created to support Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania through voter outreach and mobilization efforts.[98]
In June 2025, as Donald Trumpincreased deportations of immigrants, Lander began accompanying defendants to immigration hearings.[99] On June 17, 2025, Lander was arrested and handcuffed by maskedImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at an immigration court while linking arms with a person ICE was trying to detain.[100][101][102] The official reason provided for the arrest was "for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer" according toDepartment of Homeland Security spokeswomanTricia McLaughlin, although Lander was later released saying that he "certainly did not" assault an officer.[103][104][105] The arrest was quickly condemned by an array of Democratic politicians from the state, includingNew York State GovernorKathy Hochul, who called it "bullshit",NYS Attorney GeneralLetitia James, who described it as a "shocking abuse of power" and "grotesque escalation of tensions", andU.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who described it as "political intimidation".[106]
He was arrested by DHS again in 18 September, along with State SenatorsJabari Brisport,Gustavo Rivera andJulia Salazar, and AssemblymembersRobert Carroll,Emily Gallagher,Jessica González-Rojas,Marcela Mitaynes,Steven Raga,Tony Simone, andClaire Valdez.[107] while trying to access ICE detention cells and protest the detention at the 26 south plaza.
In 2025,New York Communities for Change (NYCC) representatives have voiced their frustration with Lander and the New York City Comptroller's Office in regards to helping keep solvent 3 pension funds for retirees of various New York City employees: New York City Employees Retirement System, New York City Teachers Retirement System, and New York City Board of Education Retirement System. The Comptroller's office is supposed to determine whichasset management companies are environmentally friendly and reject investing City employees' retirement funds in those companies that do not have a good record on saving the earth.BlackRock is one of the companies that Lander's office is researching to determine whether or not to dismiss of the list. NYCC and other environmental groups think Lander is stalling to divest from BlackRock. NYCC is threatening to stop endorsing Lander for his next possible office run because he missed a September 2025 deadline to give a response to representatives of NYCC.[108]
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In July 2024, Lander announced he would challenge incumbentMayorEric Adams in the2025 New York City mayoral election.[5]
On June 12, 2025,The New York Times Opinion panel chose Lander as its top choice for the Democratic primary for mayor.[109] According to the Opinion editors, the panel consisted of 15 New Yorkers, chosen based on their "experience in citywide or local community affairs, their knowledge of key issues, and their range of viewpoints."[109] Panelists noted Lander's extensive experience and accomplishments in city government, his demonstrated ability to listen and evolve on issues, his history of uniting opposing groups on housing and other issues, and his "smart instincts" as being among his strengths.[109] They defined his "integrity, competence and consensus building" as three crucial qualities for leadership, and his responsibility and efficiency were highlighted even by panelists who preferred other candidates.[109] The panel praised his policy stances, as well as what they described as his "capacity to manage New York’s sprawling bureaucracy" and "detailed knowledge of city government and finances."[109]
On June 13, 2025, Lander andZohran Mamdani cross-endorsed each other in the Democratic primary.[110] He placed third in the first round. He was brought up on stage at Mamdani's victory party to celebrate.
He was expected to play a large role in Zohran Mamdani's transition team[7] but he was focusing on local politics according toPolitico.[111]The New York Times reported that Mamdani met with Lander in October 2025 to discuss the latter challenging incumbent member of the United States HouseDan Goldman in2026.[112]
On December 10, 2025, Lander announced his campaign forNew York’s 10th Congressional District, attempting to primary moderate incumbent Dan Goldman from the left. He launched with endorsements from Zohran Mamdani, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, and the Working Families Party.[8] The district voted 60.3% in favor of Mamdani in the mayoral election, and was Lander's strongest congressional district in the mayoral Democratic primary.[113]
| Election history | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Year | Election | Results |
| NYC Council District 39 | 2009 | Democratic Primary | ▌ YBrad Lander 40.57%▌Josh Skaller 24.92% ▌John L. Heyer II 23.09% ▌Bob Zuckerman 7.81% ▌Gary G. Reilly 3.61% |
| NYC Council District 39 | 2009 | General | ▌YBrad Lander (D) 70.49% ▌Joe Nardiello (R) 16.58% ▌David Pechefsky (Green) 8.87% ▌George Smith (Conservative) 2.95% ▌Roger Sarrabo (L) 1.11% |
| NYC Council District 39 | 2013 | General | ▌YBrad Lander (D) 91.72% ▌James Murray (Conservative) 8.09% |
| NYC Comptroller | 2021 | General | ▌YBrad Lander (D) 69.6% ▌Daby Carreras (R) 23.0% ▌Paul Rodriguez (Conservative) 5.5% |
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |
| Zohran Mamdani | 469,642 | 43.82% | 469,755 | 43.86% | 573,169 | 56.39% |
| Andrew Cuomo | 387,137 | 36.12% | 387,377 | 36.17% | 443,229 | 43.61% |
| Brad Lander | 120,634 | 11.26% | 120,707 | 11.27% | Eliminated | |
| Adrienne Adams | 44,192 | 4.12% | 44,359 | 4.14% | Eliminated | |
| Scott Stringer | 17,820 | 1.66% | 17,894 | 1.67% | Eliminated | |
| Zellnor Myrie | 10,593 | 0.99% | 10,648 | 0.99% | Eliminated | |
| Whitney Tilson | 8,443 | 0.79% | 8,525 | 0.80% | Eliminated | |
| Michael Blake | 4,366 | 0.41% | 4,389 | 0.41% | Eliminated | |
| Jessica Ramos | 4,273 | 0.40% | 4,294 | 0.40% | Eliminated | |
| Paperboy Prince | 1,560 | 0.15% | 1,628 | 0.15% | Eliminated | |
| Selma Bartholomew | 1,489 | 0.14% | 1,505 | 0.14% | Eliminated | |
| Write-ins | 1,581 | 0.15% | Eliminated | |||
| Active votes | 1,071,730 | 100.00% | 1,071,081 | 99.94% | 1,016,398 | 94.84% |
| Exhausted ballots | N/a | 649 | 0.06% | 55,332 | 5.16% | |
| Source:New York City Board of Elections[114] | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dan Goldman (incumbent) | |||
| Democratic | Brad Lander | |||
| Total votes | ||||
Lander lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Meg Barnette, a former executive atPlanned Parenthood, now president of Nonprofit New York.[115][116] He also served as housing chair of Brooklyn Community Board 6, served on the board of directors of theJewish Funds for Justice, and is aLittle League coach in the 78th Precinct Youth Council.[117]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Comptroller of New York City 2022–2025 | Succeeded by |
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