Comptroller Brad Lander raised alarm bells Wednesday about how President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could impact the Big Apple – a warning days-late after the election that could be a dollar short in a New York Democratic Party eyeing a shift to the political center.
The lefty Democrat Lander outlined a laundry list of “significant threats” to New York City posed by Trump, from potential public school funding cuts to tariff-driven inflation, in a dire 36-page report.
“This is designed as a risk assessment to prepare us, not a prediction of what they will do,” Lander said during press conference.
“There will not be a way for the city to fill in all the cuts that we’re at risk of having.”
But Lander offered few concrete policies to counteract the incoming 47th president’s agenda, beyond pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to greenlight congestion pricing before the Jan. 20 inauguration and shoring up funding for immigrant legal services for anticipated mass deportations.
More than policies, Lander had red meat for the city’s progressive “blue” voters he seeks in his 2025 mayoral run, warning of threats to abortion access and transgender rights and healthcare.
The emphasis on progressive issues comes as a split has emerged among New York Democrats after Trump’s resounding win last week.
Hochul, in a joint post-election press conference with state Attorney General Letitia James, vowed to fight back against Trump — through later said she’d work with him on major projects such as a Penn Station revamp.
Some Democrats have pushed for the party to offer unapologetically liberal stances in opposition to an anticipated far-right Trump agenda.
But multiple Dem sources told The Post they worry stressing “woke” issues is precisely what turned off voters in the presidential election and prompted significant shifts toward Republicans in the state.
They pointed out that congressional Democrats who were successful in the election, such as Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, staked out middle-of-the-road, less firebrand positions.
“The pocketbook, border and migrants clearly matter to Americans far more than trans rights and gender affirmation do. Including in New York City,” said Ken Frydman, a longtime Democratic operative and Empire State political sage.
“Lander is clearly using the bully pulpit to cast himself as the progressive hope in the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary,” said Frank Seddio, a former Brooklyn Democratic chairman and current district leader.
He said Lander’s focus on abortion and transgender rights will not resonate with middle class, outer-borough voters like the areas Seddio reps in southern Brooklyn.
“It’s a little doom and gloom,” he said. “I’m not sure attacking the president now is the right way to go.
“He’s trying to enhance his position as a mayoral candidate,” Seddio told The Post.
Likewise, Democratic political operative Hank Sheinkopf said Lander risked losing working-class voters who care more about the economy and crime.
“The red portions of Brooklyn and Manhattan are moving red because they are concerned about crime,” he said.
“Democrats lose because they don’t understand blue collar workers.”
Seddio said immigration is a real concern, but not in the way presented by Lander.
“I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s bad to get rid of immigrants who are criminals. Oh, there is one person — Brad Lander,” he said sarcastically.
