Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: Joining us right now is Brad Lander.
Speaker 1: He's New York City's comptroller and former may oral candidate
Speaker 1: who actually cross endorsed Mandani during the primary election.
Speaker 2: Great to have you here, Brad. Great to be here.
Speaker 2: I'll get right to the brass tacks here.
Speaker 1: I mean, when we talk about some of the fears
Speaker 1: in this city about Mamdani. We've heard it from Wall Street,
Speaker 1: We've heard it from the real estate investors, we've heard
Speaker 1: it from the business community. Will he actually be good
Speaker 1: for this city's finances.
Speaker 3: I think he's going to be great for the sense
Speaker 3: of the city having a diverse, creative energy and looking forward.
Speaker 3: Andrew Cuomo has run this sour, dark, backward looking everything
Speaker 3: is terrible campaign.
Speaker 2: I don't know why.
Speaker 3: Anyone would want to start a business in that city.
Speaker 3: But the hopeful one where things get more affordable, where
Speaker 3: people are still able to come here, I think they will.
Speaker 3: He's going to put a solid team together. I think
Speaker 3: business leaders will end up thinking, I don't remember what
Speaker 3: it was as we were so worried about.
Speaker 1: What's the balance though, between sort of carrying out some
Speaker 1: of his policies to create affordable housing and free bussing
Speaker 1: and other policies that effectively are going to cost money
Speaker 1: and at the same time sort of at least support
Speaker 1: policies that are going to be conducive to people starting businesses,
Speaker 1: building buildings, etc.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, let's use childcare as an example. So that's
Speaker 3: the place where Governor Hochal and mayors are on are kind.
Speaker 2: Of best united.
Speaker 3: That's great for businesses. Yes, there has to be a
Speaker 3: little more money to pay for it, but if you
Speaker 3: see what you're getting is that your employees have a safe,
Speaker 3: high quality place for their two and three year olds.
Speaker 3: That shows up in business productivity very quickly. It means
Speaker 3: your employees feel like they can afford to stay here
Speaker 3: instead of moving someplace else. You got to show you
Speaker 3: can deliver it, that it's cost effective, that it's worth
Speaker 3: the money being paid.
Speaker 2: But I think that's a win win.
Speaker 4: Well, you mentioned safety, and actually we sat down with
Speaker 4: Eugene rem of Catch Hospitality Group last week. We asked
Speaker 4: him about the race. He said he really cares about
Speaker 4: safety at the end of the day. And to that point,
Speaker 4: Soaron mom Donnie has said that he would keep Jessica
Speaker 4: Tish to have her stay on as police commissioner if
Speaker 4: he is elected. Do you think that that's the right choice.
Speaker 3: I do. I you know, I said in during the primary,
Speaker 3: I was the first candidate to say I would ask
Speaker 3: Jesse Tish to stay on board, and I'm delighted that's
Speaker 3: are on his setate as well.
Speaker 4: Let's game plan a little bit here. We were talking
Speaker 4: about potential outcomes in the break. So let's say that
Speaker 4: zoron Mam Donnie wins, but only wins with a plurality,
Speaker 4: doesn't get more than fifty percent of the vote. What
Speaker 4: do you think that that means for his agenda going forward?
Speaker 3: Look, I do think after the race, by however much
Speaker 3: he wins, it's critical for New Yorkers to come back together.
Speaker 3: This race has been so full of vitriol. I mean,
Speaker 3: Andrew Cuomo's worst self is a very dark place, and
Speaker 3: we've been seeing more and more of it, and he's
Speaker 3: just stoked fear mongering in a way that has people
Speaker 3: on edge. So what I hope is that the mayor
Speaker 3: elect will bring people back together and say, hey, folks,
Speaker 3: whether you voted for me or didn't vote for me,
Speaker 3: I'm going to work hard to keep you safe. That
Speaker 3: vision of childcare is for you and your families. Let's
Speaker 3: heal some of the things that were broken. Donald Trump
Speaker 3: is coming for us, and we got to all respond together.
Speaker 1: Also the Katie's point, though, I mean, when we talk
Speaker 1: about Tis staying on as commissioner, there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of discussion about who Mom Donnie is going to put
Speaker 1: around him. There's, of course, one of the big knocks
Speaker 1: that Cuomo, as Lisa's tried to sort of levy his way,
Speaker 1: is the idea that he doesn't have the experience to
Speaker 1: manage a city of this size and complexity here. Do
Speaker 1: you have any sense as to what that team is
Speaker 1: going to look like?
Speaker 3: Well, look, I think people are going to get information
Speaker 3: on that pretty quickly. And what I'll say, you're going
Speaker 3: to be on the team, I think people will get
Speaker 3: information on that pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: Okay, I think a lot better.
Speaker 3: The people that are going to want to work for
Speaker 3: Zoran are energetic or excited about it, have hope in
Speaker 3: the future of the city. No one wants to work
Speaker 3: for Andrew Cuomo, So this idea that it would be
Speaker 3: better to have him, I mean, he's an abusive boss,
Speaker 3: whereas Zaurn. It's going to set the table in a
Speaker 3: way that says, hey, we get to write the next chapter,
Speaker 3: focus on affordability, stand up to Trump. I think it's
Speaker 3: going to be a first rate team.
Speaker 1: Do you think the city and meaning the people in
Speaker 1: power in the city are going to cooperate with them?
Speaker 1: The business leaders, the police, unions, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 3: Look, I mean it's a city in which people got
Speaker 3: a lot of opinions and they feel strongly but they
Speaker 3: love We love New York City, and that's a pretty
Speaker 3: profound feeling. So I just I really do hope even
Speaker 3: folks who don't voters are on tomorrow will say, how
Speaker 3: can we work together to actually make it work? Everyone
Speaker 3: benefits from a more affordable, from a safer from a
Speaker 3: more inclusive city.
Speaker 4: Well, Brad, let's try to get at your future plans
Speaker 4: through a different way. Are you planning to run for
Speaker 4: Congress in the tenth district? Are you waiting to see
Speaker 4: how tomorrow show?
Speaker 3: So for today, I'm really focused on helpings or on
Speaker 3: when tomorrow, on making sure these affordable housing ballot propositions
Speaker 3: pass tomorrow, which people aren't talking about but are a
Speaker 3: big deal for building more housings through tomorrow and the
Speaker 3: bulls close, I'm going to stay focused on helping make
Speaker 3: sure those things happen well.
Speaker 4: With that in mind, talk us through what the next
Speaker 4: twenty four plus hours look like for you, because I
Speaker 4: have to imagine this as a sprint to the finish.
Speaker 3: Oh. We started today at six am with a Zoron
Speaker 3: and a crew of us walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Speaker 3: Poles open at six am tomorrow they go till nine pm.
Speaker 3: It's really important that everyone comes out to vote. Most
Speaker 3: people don't even know about those housing, those pro housing
Speaker 3: ballot propositions. So I'll be out at polesite saying, hey,
Speaker 3: here's an opportunity for you to vote for more affordable
Speaker 3: housing to get built. We'll bring it home all the
Speaker 3: way till they close at nine pm, and then we'll
Speaker 3: get to be together and celebrate the results.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you a very loaded question here, Brad,
Speaker 1: and this has to do with your campaign and why
Speaker 1: it didn't succeed. There's been a lot of talk about
Speaker 1: this sort of being a litmus test for progressivism or
Speaker 1: whatever the Democratic Party is trying to be here. Why
Speaker 1: did Zoron bubble up out of nowhere for a lot
Speaker 1: of people people like you did.
Speaker 2: Cuomo's behind in the polls and Adams is out of
Speaker 2: the race.
Speaker 3: Yeah, look well, I mean Adams sold our city out
Speaker 3: first to Turkey and then to Trump, and people are
Speaker 3: tired of corruption. Cuomo came in with big leadership in
Speaker 3: name recognition, but ran a sour, backward looking race. I
Speaker 3: ran the campaign maybe you could say, of the guy
Speaker 3: that does the homework, and that wasn't what voters were
Speaker 3: excited by. Zoran ran a campaign that inspired and excited people,
Speaker 3: that focused on affordability, that offer something new and hopeful
Speaker 3: in a dark time.