Brad Lander was on stage at his mayoral primary watch party Tuesday night when he found out that Andrew Cuomo had conceded the race. The City comptroller stepped back from the podium, slid off his taupe-colored jacket, unbuttoned and slowly rolled up his sleeves, and then directed his son to begin a crowd chant: "Good-bye Cuo-mo! Good-bye Cuo-mo!"
Earlier that night, as it became clear Cuomo was losing, Lander dropped an indulgent F-bomb into the mic. "Andrew Cuomo is in the past. He is not the future or present of New York City. Good fucking riddance!"
It was an emboldened Brad. A fighting Brad. A Brad that curses and gets arrested by the feds. A Brad that we feel like we're only just starting to get to know. Over the past two weeks, we seemed to watch the comptroller evolve in front of our eyes—from a competent, measured civil servant who releases painstakingly detailed reports, to a ball-busting, rollercoaster-riding mayoral candidate who practices civil disobedience and swears like a pirate.
Lander's public persona seemed to shift about mid-June, when a flailing campaign received a needed media boost. First, a grab-bag of variously annoying and irrelevant New Yorkers endorsed Lander in the New York Times. An endorsement from Ezra Klein followed. Then, with training from his son, he says, he eviscerated Cuomo at the second mayoral debate. "You've never taken responsibility for a single thing you've done wrong in your entire life," he told a sputtering Cuomo. "Not one single thing. You should try it sometime."
Who was this sassy man we were seeing on stage?
On June 13, Lander and Mamdani cross-endorsed one another, becoming the indomitable Brohran Mamdander with made-for-Instagram video that is undeniably cute. "You go second," they banter. "No YOU go second." But we like to think the moment Brad really hit his stride was when he ate a hot dog on the Cyclone, seamlessly, in one go. It was the first time we'd seen this side of Brad: both silly and deeply in control.
The most galvanizing moment came on June 17, when Lander was caught on video being arrested by federal agents while attempting to escort an immigrant from court. It was the third time the comptroller had escorted immigrants at the court since ICE agents started abducting people from outside their hearings, and his very public arrest catapulted him into the public eye as a man willing to put his body on the line for immigrants.
Was this the birth of Brad's swag? Or a latent force dwelling within, that finally burst forth through pure necessity? Hell Gate walked with Lander from the Broadway Immigration Court to City Hall after his fifth visit to immigration court on Thursday, just two days after placing third in the mayoral primary. On the way, we discussed where he thinks his campaign fell short, and what his plans are for the future, while navigating a host of New York voters on the way.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Hell Gate: Hi Brad. I was at your watch party on election night. You spoke about how, two weeks prior, you really weren't looking forward to election night. I assume that you weren't looking forward to it originally because Cuomo was polling so well, and because your campaign wasn't at the point that you wanted it to be. Am I assuming correctly?
Brad Lander: Yes, both of those reasons. It looked to me like Cuomo was very likely to win and I had not succeeded in showing New Yorkers the kind of leadership I can provide.
So what do you think, looking back? What is your biggest regret in running the campaign?
I don't know. Over the last two weeks, I feel like I have been able to show people the kind of leadership I aim to provide. And why I had not succeeded in doing that previously, I'll just need to give a little more thought.
[Woman walking by: "I love you Brad!"]
Obviously some of the things that happened in the past two weeks that enabled me to [show my leadership skills] were actions of mine. But there was also the Times opinion panel, which was like a corroboration of my ability to to make government work better, and the debate. I guess I could have handled the first debate more like the second debate. That second debate, I felt like I was able to show people something, and the cross-endorsement showed us treating politics like a team sport for the future of the city. And then what happened here [gestures toward the immigration court where he was arrested].
What about the hot dog video?
Well, everyone liked that video. But a challenge I faced is that the things I typically did in campaigning weren't "illuminating action." You know, you make ads, but they're ads. You fill out questionnaires and do a zillion forums, but they just seem like forums and questionnaires, and things that feel like commitment or action or courage or solidarity don't come across.
The closest I probably came to that [prior to two weeks before the election] was the Hell Gate forum. I don't know why the Hell Gate forum brought out something a little closer to what I was trying to show.
We certainly felt like we saw the onion skin peeling away that night.
I agree.
My theory is that, over the past two weeks, we started to see a swaggier Brad. You were a bit more fiery, a bit more brash, maybe a little bit more fearless in what you were doing. I'm wondering if that was perception, or if there was a moment of change on your part?
Yeah, there were a few moments. Before the second debate, my son really, like, looked at me. And he's like, "Dad, it's time to throw some punches." I was in a Zen space. But it was like, "Come on. This guy went at mom in the last debate. And I know you said something about it, but you didn't do anything about it." So I give him some credit for psyching me up for the debate. [Cuomo jabbed at Lander and his family in the first debate, saying his office approved contracts to organizations associated with his wife. Lander called it a lie sourced from Twitter.]
OK. Anything else?
And then I think it was finding the clarity that more was required to defeat Andrew Cuomo.
I went into the cross-endorsement with, let's say, gritted teeth, because, it was just like, I don't want Andrew Cuomo to be elected, right? And therefore we should do this thing to add up our votes. But having stepped into it, it generated a response of gratitude and hopefulness that the government could be something less selfish, and having that reflected back helped. It helped me feel better about doing it. And then this [he gestures toward the immigration courthouse where he has been escorting people from their hearings and witnessing them be abducted by ICE]. This is just genuine outrage. Like, both outraged and depressed about what's happening here. This is a separate thing from the campaign.
For those who say that arrest was a stunt, how do you respond?
I mean, here I am, my fifth time here. The election is over. I have nothing to gain from being out here today. So you know, whatever. Haters gonna hate. I wish they would come and do it too. I might just invite them. Come witness what's happening here.
There are a lot of people who don't want to see you out of a job. They want to see you still working for the City. What are your plans to do this right now? What's your plan A and your plan B?
Well, my number one is to help make sure that Zohran is elected in November. That's not a government job, however I want to make sure he wins the election.
Will you be the Randy Mastro for a Mamdani administration?
Did you see that he just walked by? [Down the street, Eric Adams is launching his reelection campaign. Hell Gate does not see Randy Mastro walk by.]
Zohran has a big mandate for change and is going to need a lot of hands to help.
I've heard you say this line before.
I mean, I'm open to helping however I can.
What about running for Congress?
I'm still processing the results of last week. I definitely need a little more time to think things through. We've got a whole process just for making sure we have a really smooth transition out of the comptroller's office, and there'll be time to make job decisions in the coming days.
Side note: City pools are opening tomorrow. You said at our forum you had plans for a "pool party summer"?
I'm excited to share the plans for Pool Party Summer with Mayor Mamdani. Unfortunately, Eric Adams remains the mayor for opening day tomorrow, and I mean, I'm a supporter of various forms of civil disobedience, but not at the pools. There's no need for that.
I love the pools—even in their current preposterous airline-security-admission form. I know it's ridiculous for me to say "I have a plan for that," long after the primary, but we literally put a plan out for our public pools. And I'm excited to share it with Zohran and I hope he'll take that one, because it's such a great opportunity. I just feel like anyone who has ever been to First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum or date night at the Met, and also stood in that line waiting to get into the pools, being told you can only wear a white T-shirt, you can't bring your phone, there won't be any food or music on the deck of the pool. Like it's not that complicated to say, "Why don't we bring those things together and make it joyful?" Get in and have some food vendors and some music, it will be great.
[The interview is interrupted by a man wearing an NYPD cap, holding a phone in Lander's face, recording. He questions the comptroller about Mamdani's plan for City-run supermarkets. Lander replies that he's dubious about the city's ability to do it effectively, but that he does support the city's Fresh Program to subsidize fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods, and regrets not being able to effectively communicate that to people on the campaign trail. The man seems satisfied.]
[Before I can get my next question in, the interview is interrupted again, this time by members of the NewsGuild of New York, asking him to record a video saying "Defend the Daily News." He hugs them, and does it, but adds his own spice: "Now, there could be some change at the Daily News editorial board, although, honestly, even the Daily News editorial was better than the Times..." The union cuts him off. "No Brad, just say 'Defend the Daily News!" Lander complies.]
[We are interrupted again. This time by a man who is also advocating for immigrants at court, and who wants to shake Lander's hand. "I really appreciate you," he says, in almost a whisper.]
[We begin walking to City Hall.]
On primary night, you had a message of unity. You said no one will divide Muslims and Jews.
Yeah… I don't know that "good fucking riddance" is much of a message of unity?
[Lander is swearing more these days, seemingly since he cursed out Cuomo in Yiddish for calling him an antisemite. Earlier, at his press conference outside immigration court, he spoke passionately about the cases of two young men who were snatched by federal agents on Thursday, even after the judge granted them a stay on their asylum case until February 2027. "Who knows what the fuck ICE is going to do with them," he told media, exasperated.]
I think people liked hearing you swear. It seems to be a part of your new public persona. But anyway, there's people who support you but don't support Mamdani. How are you navigating that dynamic right now? Are you getting a lot of flack behind closed doors?
I'm talking to a lot of people. It has been gratifying to see that some people are expressing openness. Certainly some people are not. But this is part of what's supposed to happen between a primary and a general. Primaries are intra-party battles, and then it is the job of the winner and the winner's coalition to build as much unity within the party as you can. So that process is underway, and it's critical.
It's been pretty divisive. People are still coming at him about his views on Israel, the business community is freaking out… Have you lost relationships?
I've actually been pretty encouraged. People have been much more receptive to the idea that some form of—let's at least say dialogue—if not all the way to healing, is possible. There's no doubt that some people are freaking out in the Jewish community, in the business community, in the Black community, and that there's important work to do to build bridges.
You are that bridge, aren't you?
In some of those places I am. I'm having as many conversations as I can. I'm very hopeful. I think, like a lot of people, I feel a lot more hope right now than I have in a very long time, and that is exciting and a little scary.
[A man holding a shofar stops Brad, who promises him they'll coordinate later for the Jericho Walk— a Jewish prayer walk. Another, holding an "Elect Adams" banner, and who is clearly coming from the current mayor's reelection campaign launch up the street, shakes Lander's hand. "You did a great job," he says. "That was weird," Lander comments. We keep walking.]
How do you feel about being called a kingmaker?
[Woman walking by interrupts: "Hi Brad! You're number one in my eyes!"]
I mean, Zohran ran an incredible campaign. Him and his team deserve the credit for Tuesday night's win. I feel proud both of the campaign we ran and of the way that the cross endorsement helped him over the finish line, and how it is opening something up in our politics. I'm grateful to the extent to which other people feel grateful to me for that role, but I want you to know in no uncertain terms: He ran an incredible campaign and deserved to win.
We're in such a weird position right now where members of the business community are now thinking that they're gonna throw their weight behind Adams again. What do you think of that?
[Lander laughs for about five seconds. Catches breath.]
I genuinely find this hilarious. Like, they lit $20 million on fire, and all it did was boost Zohran's numbers. And in no small part because they corrupted their own souls by supporting a person they know to be a corrupt, abusive asshole. What are they gonna do now? Do they think they can rehabilitate Eric Adams, who's sold our city out in a way that's so humiliating you never could have believed it?
Eric Adams is running an experiment in how you could bend the knee to Donald Trump in the most humiliating ways possible and run a government so rife with corruption it would be like a comic book, and the notion that these guys think, "Oh, maybe we'll line up behind Eric Adams." It's not even that they should be ashamed. They should just be embarrassed.
[A man in the center of the road yells: "Hi Brad!"]
I have built a lot of nice relationships with business leaders in my job as comptroller. We do all this work with asset managers and real estate developers and tech guys, and I know many of them love this city—they're on boards, and they contribute money, and they know their employees want to live here. And so I just really hope that they'll come to their senses.
We need to develop housing. There's a big opportunity here for people to help build a thriving future for the city. Don't light another $20 million on fire trying to rehabilitate Eric Adams—there are better uses for your money.
If you and Zohran do go into a new administration together, Hell Gate will hold your feet to the fire. Are you prepared for that?
Yes, please. I look forward to our tussles, wherever I land. I look forward to being held accountable by Hell Gate.