5 hours ago
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Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, left, speaks on stage with fellow candidate Comptroller Brad Lander at his primary election party on June 25, 2025.
AP Photo/Heather Khalifa
As the city comptroller, Brad Lander must surely know that fellow Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani can’t possibly make good on his pricey promises. And if he tries, he might bankrupt the city.
So will Lander finally be straight with New Yorkers and warn them of the dangers Mamdani poses?
Ha. During the primary, the weaselly Lander kept his lips sealed about Mamdani’s “free” everything — about how much it would actually cost, the fact that a mayor isn’t likely able to raise taxes enough to pay for it all and the fiscal and economic disasters that would follow if he did.
Surely Lander knew Mamdani’s “free-stuff” campaign was joke; if he didn’t, he doesn’t deserve to be comptroller, let alone mayor.
Yet Lander stood arm-in-arm with his Working Families Party comrade, and even cross-endorsed him. Even as he ran against him in the primary.
It’s the very definition of a weasel.
Lander could’ve told the truth about Mamdani’s promises:
- Free buses, like free lunches, would still have to be paid for. If funding is short, fewer buses will run.
Oh, and expect many of the buses to turn into fetid mobile homeless shelters as they did in other cities.
- Making CUNY tuition-free would cost $1 billion while forcing the public colleges to eliminate degree programs and faculty positions.
- A proposed $9 billion tax hike on corporations and the city’s top 1% of households would fuel out-migration and shrink city revenue.
Lander, by the way, didn’t just stay silent about Mamdani’s fiscal lunacy; he also refused to call out his socialist buddy’s blatant antisemitism, even though the comptroller claims to be a proud Jew.
We’re not counting on Lander to spill the beans now about his spend-happy pal’s fiscal recklessness, especially since he may be maneuvering for a post in a potential Mamdani administration.
More likely he’ll keep radio silent.
But here’s the good news: Lander leaves office at year’s end; if New Yorkers are lucky, they’ll never hear anything from him again.
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