39 Facts About Brad Lander

Bradford S Lander was born on July 8,1969 and is an American politician, urban planner, and community organizer who currently serves as the New York City Comptroller.

Brad Lander is a progressive member of the Democratic Party.

In 2021, Brad Lander was elected as the 45th City Comptroller, and assumed office on January 1,2022.

Brad Lander was endorsed by progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren.

In July 2024, Brad Lander announced he would challenge incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in the 2025 New York City mayoral election.

Brad Lander grew up in the Creve Coeur suburb of St Louis in a Reform Jewish family.

Brad Lander earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1991, where he received a Harry S Truman Scholarship, and master's degrees in anthropology from University College London on a Marshall Scholarship and in urban planning from the Pratt Institute.

From 1993 to 2003, Brad Lander was the executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a Park Slope not-for-profit organization that develops and manages affordable housing.

From 2003 to 2009, Brad Lander was a director of the university-based Pratt Center for Community Development.

Brad Lander has been a critic of the Atlantic Yards project.

Brad Lander co-led the completion of the One City One Future platform, a progressive vision for economic development in New York City.

Brad Lander stepped down as head of the organization in 2009 to seek a seat on the New York City Council.

Brad Lander teaches as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

Brad Lander was one of four Council members who brought participatory budgeting to New York City, which allows citizens to propose, develop, and vote on items in the municipal budget.

Brad Lander's district included portions of Brooklyn: Boerum 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, and Windsor Terrace.

Brad Lander was reelected on the Democratic and Working Families Parties' lines in 2013 to serve for a second term.

In March 2015, Brad Lander was arrested for blocking traffic in Park Slope to show support for eight striking car washers, outside a car wash that was closed at the time; it was his fourth arrest.

Brad Lander opposed rezoning the site of Long Island College Hospital to include affordable housing.

In 2017, Brad Lander passed legislation to require fast food and retail companies to give their workers stable scheduling and restrict "on call" scheduling and last-minute changes.

Brad Lander sponsored a successful bill to prevent fast food workers from being fired without just cause and to allow them to appeal terminations through arbitration.

Brad Lander worked with the Freelancers 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.

In 2018, Brad Lander won the first rule in the country to guarantee a living wage for Uber, Lyft and other for-hire drivers.

In 2019 Brad Lander admitted to an ethics violation for using his official government position to solicit monetary donations for a progressive non-profit he helped to create, and of which he was Chairman.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, Brad 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 at Rikers Island who were over 50 years old.

Brad Lander voiced support for defunding the police and limiting police powers by cutting their budget by $1 billion in 2020.

In June 2020, Brad Lander announced: "It is time to defund the police".

Brad Lander ran in the Democratic primary against among others NY State Senator Brian Benjamin, entrepreneur and former US Marine Zach Iscol, New York State Senator Kevin Parker, former Public Advocate and former New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and New York State Assemblymember David Weprin.

Brad Lander 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.

Brad Lander said he would 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.

Brad Lander received endorsements from the Working Families Party, unions including Communications Workers of America District 1, and various Democratic clubs and community organizations.

Brad Lander was endorsed by elected officials including NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and members of the New York City Council and New York State legislature.

Brad Lander defeated Speaker Corey Johnson in the Democratic primary for comptroller and won the general election over Republican candidate Daby Carreras.

In 2022, Brad Lander called for ending 421a, a program that provided tax incentives for developers of market-rate apartments who added below-market rentals.

In March 2022, Brad Lander called on Mayor Eric Adams to abandon his effort to shift retired municipal workers onto a new Medicare program and comply with a court order declaring the move illegal.

Brad Lander subsequently refused to register the city's contract with Aetna, citing pending legislation that called the program's legality into question, but Adams overrode his decision and registered the contract.

Brad Lander is a member of the Vote Blue Coalition, a progressive group and federal PAC created to support Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania through voter outreach and mobilization efforts.

On July 30,2024, Brad Lander announced that he would run for mayor of New York City against the incumbent, Eric Adams.

Brad Lander served as the Housing Chair of Brooklyn Community Board 6, served on the board of directors of the Jewish Funds for Justice, and is a little league coach in the 78th Precinct Youth Council.

Brad Lander joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 1987 when he was a student at the University of Chicago.