Brad Lander talks to The Press on run for mayor

The city needs to step up and do a lot more when it comes to affordable housing.”

Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is one of the Democratic candidates who threw his hat in the ring in a run for mayor in this year’s upcoming election. As one of Eric Adam’s staunchest critics, Lander has consistently voiced his opposition to the mayor, particularly when it comes to housing and affordability. 

Lander’s plans for reforms in New York City are grounded in more than a decade of work within the nonprofit sector. Most notably, he headed the Pratt Center and the Fifth Avenue Community Development where he facilitated the creation of hundreds of affordable housing units.

Lander was elected to New York City Council in 2009, where he co-founded the Progressive Caucus and led successful efforts to defend workers' rights. In 2021, he was elected as the city’s comptroller and chief accountability officer. Throughout his tenure, his office released impactful reports, spearheaded campaigns that ensured air-conditioning for every NYC school classroom and secured hundreds of millions of dollars for affordable housing.

Last week, Lander joined community leaders for a tour of the Bronx’s “Hub” at 149th Street and Third Avenue where he engaged in conversations with multiple residents on the streets, with one person boldly stepping out of her car to share her frustrations. The candidate has developed an expansive plan to improve the quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of residents living in New York City’s public housing, with initiatives rooted in a comprehensive audit of the New York City Housing Authority, which his office released last year.

The Press spoke with Lander about his vision for change and his plans to create what he promises will be a “safer, more affordable, more livable and better-run city for all New Yorkers.”

The Press: “The Press’ coverage area includes 22 percent older adults and this population is projected to grow 40 percent by 2030. Are there any initiatives you plan to implement for seniors?”

Brad Lander: In the comptroller’s office, we manage the pension funds, and so that’s part of our plan to provide retirement security for a whole lot of older adults who used to be our teachers, secretaries, firefighters, and cops. That’s a big focus of our office in my run for mayor. [One initiative] was also a plan from a few years ago called Age-Friendly New York, which focused on the kinds of improvements that make it a little easier to grow older in your neighborhood.

Even making sure the library is activated with the kind of programming seniors want. Then you have to worry about if it’s safe and accessible to get there. New York City is a great place to grow older, unlike a lot of locations around the country where you’re more likely to be isolated. But you need a working subway elevator and not have sidewalks blocked by street vending, where you can't walk down the street. Just basic accessibility and quality of life issues for seniors. I will also add that the city has to step up and do a lot more when it comes to affordable housing. The federal government basically stopped federal funding for affordable housing for seniors – it used to be called the Section 202 program.

The Press: We did a story on your New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) audit. It’s illegal not to have a functioning intercom, which both NYCHAs in The Press’s coverage area don’t have. We spoke to EMT workers who have had to break down doors at the Fort Independence Houses. How do you plan to address NYCHA’s maintenance issues?

Brad Lander: What we focused on in the audit was repairs in apartments. The intercoms are critical, but the audit especially looked at problems like mold in your apartment, your broken stove, or leaking bathrooms. Those are jobs that tend to be under $50,000 and there’s basically no oversight, no system of evaluation, not even a check to make sure the work was done.

So what we found is 46 percent of the times we paid for work, there was no evidence it had been done. That makes residents mad and that makes me mad. But then we thought, what should the solution be? So we talked to residents themselves because we have this NYCHA resident audit committee that helped us decide to do this audit. They said, ‘how come if I go get an Uber, I can rate the driver, or if I use Yelp, I can rate the restaurant, but I can’t say whether the work got done to fix my apartment?’ So, we developed a proposal. We even kind of mocked up the app, Yelp for NYCHA repairs.

The Press: How would this “Yelp” for repairs work?

Brad Lander: So, after a job was done in someone’s apartment, [the worker] wouldn’t get paid until a text or an email went to that resident and they had the opportunity to rate the vendor and say they came on time or they didn’t. One to five, they weren't polite. One to five, they did the work. One to five, rate the vendor.

Then the vendor ratings happen, they get paid and very quickly, you’ll have a vendor scorecard. You’ll know which vendors did a good job and which did not do a good job. You could rehire the ones that do well and not rehire the ones that do poorly. You could have accountability for NYCHA repairs pretty quickly using technology-enabled resident feedback. So that’s one idea.