Brad Lander Wants New York City to Resist

Brad Lander is one of New York City’s most prominent progressive elected officials. He became the city’s Comptroller in 2022 after serving on the City Council for a dozen years, representing Park Slope and other parts of brownstone Brooklyn. He ran for mayor as a Democrat this year, finishing third behind Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. Shortly before Election Day, Lander and Mamdani cross-endorsed one another, forming a left wing bulwark against Cuomo in the city’s ranked-choice voting. Lander has since become a prominent ally and adviser to Mamdani, who is poised to become the city’s first socialist mayor next month.

Long an advocate for organized labor, Lander has become a high profile activist for immigrant rights. He was arrested by federal agents in June while observing immigration court, and again at a sit-in protest against ICE last month. In addition to his official duties supervising the city’s finances, Lander is busy supporting Mamdani’s campaign, planning how to resist the Trump administration, and considering his own political future.

On Friday, we spoke to him in his downtown office about ICE, the Democratic Party, Trump-proofing New York City, and what to do in Brooklyn. Our conversation is below.

How Things Work: Let’s talk about ICE. What could a new mayoral administration do that would tangibly change what’s happening at the ICE headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza, where immigrants have been snatched up after court hearings and detained?

Brad Lander: The best and earliest thing is providing more resources and legal support before people ever get there. Most people who have lawyers are now getting virtual hearings. Most people who are being abducted are there for their very first hearing. They got a notice to appear at the border. And it instructs them to appear in court, and they do. And they don’t have a lawyer, so they just show up. Most people who have lawyers now are requesting virtual hearings, and most of them have been getting those virtual hearings, and then they don’t show up at 26 Federal Plaza at all. They still attend their hearings, but they do it virtually.

Second, when people do get detained—because they don’t have lawyers, people didn’t even know who they were before they went in the building. They’re just lost in the federal system. What their nonexistent lawyers need to do is bring a habeas motion in federal