Brad Lander on cleaning up corruption, housing, sanctuary city and trash: ‘I will fight’

Editor’s note: This interview has been condensed and some responses paraphrased for length and formatting.

As the 2025 mayoral race ramps up and early voting starts Saturday, Brad Lander is pitching a message rooted in experience, equity and accountability. The current city comptroller and former City Council member says he has spent decades focused on affordable housing, worker protections and government transparency. In his bid to lead City Hall, Lander is positioning himself as a champion of equitability with a reformer’s track record.

And, he’s no stranger to Haitian New Yorkers. Lander recalled his collaboration with Life of Hope, a Brooklyn-based Haitian organization, and longtime ties to the community through grassroots activism. He praised the Haitian community’s “extraordinary history” and “resilience,” describing the bond between Brooklyn and Haiti as “really inspiring”—and, he added with a smile, “also delicious.” If elected, Lander said, his administration would seek to be a lasting partner, not just a campaign visitor.

Lander started out at the Fifth Avenue Committee, a tenants rights organization, and advocated for building new affordable homes. He represented Brooklyn’s 39th District in the City Council for 12 years. He touts among his accomplishments: Fighting to desegregate District 15 middle schools, passing legislation for deliveristas and Uber and Lyft drivers to get a living wage, protecting fast food workers against sudden changes to their schedules and unfair firings, and passing the Community Safety Act to stop discriminatory stop-and-frisk.

The Haitian Times: You’ve held several city roles already. Why run for mayor?

Brad Lander: I got fed up with all the corruption in Eric Adams’ administration—and with a government that’s not delivering for working people. We need a city that’s safer, more affordable, and better run.

As comptroller, the city’s chief financial officer, I root off fraud and waste. I’ve saved taxpayers $2.5 billion. So I understand why people are fed up with government. I’m fed up with government too, but in all the places I’ve been, I have helped end corruption and bring more transparency and integrity.

THT: What are your top three priorities if elected?

Lander: Affordable housing—that’s number one. In 1996, my wife and I were able to buy a co-op in Brooklyn, a two-bedroom co-op for $125,000. That’s why we’re able to be in Brooklyn and raise our family, but no one can do that today. Rents are just pushing people out and there’s no homes or co-ops that hardworking families can afford to buy. I’ve got a plan to build 500,000 homes in the next decade, including 50,000 homes on city-owned golf courses. Second is public safety. 

My “Housing First” proposal would connect nearly 2,000 mentally ill homeless people who are sleeping on the street directly to supportive housing and SRO (single-room occupancy) units to receive housing and services to get them off the streets and subways. 

Third, expanding child care and after-school programs. If those programs only go until 2:30, it’s still impossible for a working family.  

THT: Sanitation is a huge concern in parts of Flatbush that affect residents’ quality of life. What’s your strategy for cleaning them up?

Lander: Containerization, getting trash off the sidewalks and into bins, is really good. But it should have been piloted in a working-class neighborhood of color where businesses are struggling and we haven’t provided good services. My “Trash the Rats” plan would focus on doing it in a way that is not just equitable, but leans into hardworking communities of color who deserve just as good a quality of life as everyone else.

THT: You’ve long spoken about nonprofit funding delays. What’s your solution?

Lander: The city owes over $1 billion in unpaid invoices and $5 billion in late contracts. These aren’t grants—they’re contracts for essential services like after-school programs or food pantries. I want to establish payment deadlines for every city agency. I want to launch a transparent tracking system for people to see where their payments are getting stuck, so we can solve the problem there. Maybe the agency needs more staff or new technology.

THT: Mayor Adams proposed advancing 80% of funds to nonprofits. Is that enough?

Lander: No. Giving out 80% of a contract up front sounds good, but it’s risky. Some folks are honest, others might take the money and run. A better solution is starting contracts on time, providing a reasonable advance, maybe 25%—and paying invoices quickly. That’s the right way to do it, and that’s how I’ll get it done.

THT: What’s your immigration stance, especially under the threat of federal deportation efforts?

Lander: About 40% of New Yorkers are foreign-born, 50% of New Yorkers live in mixed-status households, including 1 million children. This is the future of New York City. I co-sponsored our sanctuary city laws and I will fully enforce them. We can’t have ICE in schools, hospitals, homeless shelters or police precincts. 

This is the greatest immigrant city in the world. Everyone—regardless of status—deserves due process and safety. So, I will fight. I will stand up and fight on behalf of New York first. The city works with the federal government, but you can’t cave into bullies. 

THT: How will you clean up the corruption you said motivated you to run?

Lander: We’ve rejected so many contracts, done so many audits, exposed waste, fraud and abuse in every administration, but boy, this one has had a lot of it. I have plans for cleaning up procurement, ending needless emergency procurement, which skips the bidding and doesn’t do enough vendor integrity. We have so many minority and women-owned small businesses (MWBEs), we must give them a chance to bid out the contracts so you don’t just get cronies. I want to make the conflicts of interest board more independent. And, I will bring my appointees to the City Council for advice and consent so the public can see that City Hall is fighting for New Yorkers, not padding the pockets of the mayor or his cronies.

THT: One last question—what should Haitian New Yorkers know about you?

Lander: The best thing about being a New Yorker is getting to see all our amazing communities. The Haitian community here—with its extraordinary history as the first independent Black republic anywhere, all the struggles and challenges Haiti has been through, how much people are resilient and the deep bond between New York City as a whole—I find it really inspiring, and also delicious.

So, I look forward to being a partner for many years to come.

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