Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander on housing proposals and partisan primaries
0:04:40
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4 min
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander expresses strong support for the commission's first four housing-related proposals, calling them a great job in addressing the affordability crisis.
However, he vehemently opposes the proposal to eliminate partisan primaries, arguing it undermines a democratic process that has served the city for generations.
He cites the recent high-turnout mayoral primary as a successful example of the current system.
- Lander supports proposals one through four, which focus on land use and housing affordability.
- He strongly urges the commission to leave the proposal to end partisan primaries off the ballot.
- He argues that changing the primary system now would be viewed as an attempt to overturn the results of the recent election.
- Lander believes that political parties are a fundamental, though imperfect, part of the American political process.
Brad Lander
0:04:40
Good evening, chair Biri and vice chair Greenberger and, all these teamed man members of this commission and to the staff.
0:04:47
I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak to you.
0:04:50
I come to you just days after the twenty twenty five democratic primary for mayor in which, as you know, I was a candidate.
0:04:57
And my testimony this evening is formed strongly by that race in two key ways.
0:05:03
First, from beginning to end, I focused aggressively on housing affordability, which has been the work of my whole career, as did all of the other candidates.
0:05:13
New Yorkers are desperate for more affordable homes.
0:05:16
So I am proud to be here tonight in support of proposals one through four.
0:05:22
And second, while the June election did not go exactly as I mapped it out, I am proud of the campaign that I ran.
0:05:29
I ran as a Democrat in a Democratic primary.
0:05:33
I lost fair and square.
0:05:35
I'm grateful to have been a part of a history making race that saw the highest turnout in a local primary election since 1989.
0:05:43
A diverse electorate of nearly 1,000,000 New Yorkers showed up.
0:05:47
More than half a million voted for Zoran Mamdani, who I proudly cross endorsed, just like ranked choice voting was meant to encourage.
0:05:55
And many voters who had never cast a ballot in a primary before turned up, registration surged in their final days before the deadline.
0:06:04
We thoughtfully debated serious ideas about what sort of message and approach the Democratic Party candidate should take to govern our beloved city and run-in the election in November.
0:06:16
I lost.
0:06:17
Andrew Cuomo lost.
0:06:18
Zoran Mamdani won, and he'll be the Democratic nominee for mayor in November.
0:06:24
That's democracy as we have practiced it here for generations, but now it appears some people for whom the race didn't go the way they wanted want to change the rules.
0:06:36
So I'm also here this evening to strongly urge this commission to leave its proposal to eliminate partisan primaries like the one we literally just had off the ballot.
0:06:48
And I'll summarize the rest of my testimony, which is, here in writing.
0:06:53
But first, I really think you did a great job on proposals one through four.
0:06:57
I'm happy to talk about the details.
0:06:59
I think there's some questions, that are worth digging in on about whether communities could get a chance to plan for their futures if they happen to be one of the 12 that have produced the fewest housing.
0:07:09
But broadly, I think you did a great job.
0:07:12
You were given a mission to address the critical crisis of land use and affordability.
0:07:18
I think on those issues, this is the best charter revision commission that we have had since 1989, and I give you your props for it.
0:07:27
And I also think proposal five is a perfectly thoughtful and reasonable proposal to bring more pro more voters out in primary election years.
0:07:37
But I would just strongly urge you, a proposal to end party primaries of the sort we just literally had that New Yorkers have utilized for generations just weeks after a historic race like that is a big mistake.
0:07:53
You know, I think it will be viewed, whatever the intentions, and I don't doubt the motivations of anyone on this panel, as trying to overturn essentially an election we just had.
0:08:05
And I think the fact that some of the folks who were talking about spending money for this proposal or folks who spent money in Andrew Cuomo's super PAC tells you the story that you need to know.
0:08:17
Democratic I mean, the political parties are not perfect.
0:08:20
God knows.
0:08:20
And I have spent a lot of my time fighting against them at the local, at the state, and at the national level, but they are how we do politics here.
0:08:30
Community groups, labor unions, interest groups, people get engaged in party politics and try to put candidates forward.
0:08:38
And in the absence of it, you're not gonna wind up with some beautiful Athenian democracy with every single voter kind of, you know, making the decisions for themselves.
0:08:48
It will be ripe for spending at unlimited levels.
0:08:53
It will not produce better government.
0:08:55
You have a chance at this moment to achieve an incredible mission that you were assigned to help New York City confront the affordability crisis, and I strongly urge you to do it by leaving proposal six off the ballot and putting one to five there that I will wholeheartedly support and think can build a broad coalition for the future of the city we love.
0:09:16
Thank you.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:09:16
Thank you so much.