With President Donald Trump’s extreme political actions escalating, New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander addressed the concerns of New Yorkers at a town hall at the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights on April 15.
Lander applauded the few hundred concerned citizens who gathered in the church’s historic Gothic revival sanctuary for not giving in to the climate of fear, and emphasized the importance of standing up against authoritarianism through organizing.
“It matters when people stand up,” Lander said. “What tyrants count on is fear; that is their whole game plan. They know that if they get out there and make people afraid, then people will cower.”
Lander called out politicians, educational institutions, and law firms for capitulating to Trump’s demands, referring to Mayor Eric Adams’ executive order to allow ICE agents to set up shop on Rikers Island, Columbia University surrendering to Trump’s policy changes demands to restore $400 million in federal funding, and the law firm Paul Weiss striking a deal with the Trump administration to lift an executive order.
“That’s how democracy gets eroded and undermined. That’s how authoritarianism creeps forward, and democracy weakens and dies,” said Lander, who co-sponsored New York City’s sanctuary law during his tenure as City Council member. “But here’s the thing, and this is why you guys are here tonight: it matters when people stand up and fight back as well.”
Lander, who has received endorsements from Make the Road Action, 504 Democratic Club, Indivisible Brooklyn, and the New York Working Families, among others, underlined the importance of protecting healthcare systems that provide reproductive and gender-affirming care.
He said he didn’t doubt that Trump will try and cut $1 billion in federal funding from NYC Health + Hospitals, even though federal funds don’t pay for reproductive and gender-affirming care.
To protect those facilities, Lander proposed creating an independent authority, funded exclusively through state, local, and private sources, to oversee and manage all essential reproductive services currently provided by public agencies.
“Organize together with partners, come up with creative solutions, that inside-outside strategy will deliver the answer to this question,” Lander explained.
One attendee asked how Lander planned to keep New York City on target in addressing climate change, since the Trump administration has already fired hundreds of employees from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, attempted to take back billions of dollars in climate grants, and moved to roll back environmental regulations.
Lander touted his record as Comptroller, and said his office has fully divested the city’s pension funds from fossil fuels and adopted a net-zero emissions plan for 2040. He also pointed to the climate plan he unveiled on April 15.
The plan includes the Public Solar NYC initiative, bringing accessible and affordable rooftop solar energy to over 150,000 low and moderate-income homeowners households within eight years.
“The city will finance, permit, install, and asset manage that array on your roof, and you can just benefit from the energy benefits that we’ll share with you, and we can do hundreds of 1000s of rooftop solar installations,” Lander explained.
One attendee was concerned about the city’s financial situation in light of federal funding cuts.
Lander said that in addition to cuts in federal funding, the Trump tariffs could provide another blow to the city’s budget because the likelihood of an economic downturn or recession had grown significantly.
“A month ago, we were projecting kind of steady economic growth, but we’re actually putting out a report tomorrow that says the city, as we move into our budget process, has to really reevaluate where we are,” Lander said.
Organizers with Make the Road Action, 504 Democratic Club, Indivisible Brooklyn, Trans Formative Schools, and the New York Working Families Party highlighted the importance of grassroots organizing and called for action and engagement.
NYFWP co-director Ana María Archila emphasized the need for progressive leadership at the local and state levels to protect democracy.
“We need leaders who will stand up, who will protect us, who will use every tool at their disposal to make sure that the people in this city are not only safe from the attacks of an authoritarian regime but that we are actually helping turn the tide.”
