Latest news with #BradLander
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Working Families Party picks Mamdani first in ranked-choice endorsements for NYC mayor
NEW YORK — The Working Families Party ranked state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the top slot for its mayoral primary slate Friday night, following hours of closed-door deliberations. The progressive organization picked City Comptroller Brad Lander second, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams third and state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos fourth and fifth in the hopes of defeating frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. 'The polls and fundraising numbers tell a clear story about who is best poised to defeat Cuomo — that candidate is Zohran,' New York WFP co-directors Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper said in a statement. The party endorsed four candidates in late March, but did not rank them. The idea at the time was to eventually coalesce behind the person best poised to beat the former governor. That pronouncement led to speculation before Friday's endorsement vote whether the party would only anoint one person or go with a ranked slate. Democratic voters can pick up to five candidates in ranked order ahead of the June 24 primary. While Mamdani has been polling second to Cuomo — with an Emerson College survey this week placing him within 9 points of the former governor in the final round — Lander has a long history with the organization. He has been a longtime WFP member and was aligned with the group on legislation he pursued during his time in the Council. With the progressive standard bearer's position solidified, eyes are now turning to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who carries significant heft in New York City Democratic primaries and has yet to endorse with under four weeks until voters head to the polls. 'The Working Families Party has fought for a more affordable New York for decades and I am honored to lead their slate as their first choice for mayor,' Mamdani said in a statement. Lander's camp, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for the second-place nod. 'This is now a clear three-person race, and Brad is the only candidate with the bold progressive vision, the record and chops to actually get it done," spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.
Bloomberg
12 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
NYC Bitcoin-Bond Idea Squashed by Comptroller as ‘Irresponsible'
By Teresa Xie and Save New York City Comptroller Brad Lander poured cold water on Mayor Eric Adams's proposal to issue municipal bonds backed by Bitcoin. Lander, who shares responsibility for debt issuance with the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, said the largest US city won't be issuing Bitcoin-backed bonds while he's in office. Lander, a Democrat, is also a candidate to succeed Adams in November's mayoral election. Adams is running as an independent.
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Institutional Investors Are Ramping Up Climate Investments In 2025
In today's investment landscape, large institutional investors are increasingly matching capital with a clean energy future. A recent Mercer Investment study of 74 large asset owners-- with more than $2 trillion in assets--found that 70% now integrate responsible investment goals into their strategies, a seven percentage jump from last year. Despite shifting rhetoric in some corners of the market, momentum continues to build. The Mercer study underscores this powerful trend—a growing majority are not only setting clear responsible investment goals, they're also increasing how much they allocate to those investments. Responsible Investment Goals Now Central to Portfolio Strategy From New York to Oregon to Ontario, asset owners-- the investors that include pension funds, endowments, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, and wealth managers--are making clear that managing climate risk and seizing investment opportunities are central to long-term fiduciary duty. In 2025, that's translating into investors pouring more capital into climate solutions at scale, reporting progress on portfolio emissions, and supporting public policies that enable a future-ready economy. Major Pension Funds Raise Expectations for Asset Managers Across North America, public officials and investment leaders are raising the bar for themselves-- and the asset managers they do business with. In April, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees the city's pension funds, laid out clear transition plan expectations for investment managers. Asset managers working with the New York City Employees Retirement System, the Teachers Retirement System, and Board of Education Retirement System must deliver credible, detailed transition plans—or he would recommend putting those managers' investment mandates out to bid. Highlighting the financial stakes for states and the public funds they manage, Maryland's state comptroller released a report in April on how inaction on extreme weather issues is straining the state's economy and budget. Economic impacts include workforce disruptions, agricultural losses, tourism declines, supply chain disruptions, infrastructure damage, and loss of essential services. And underscoring the critical role of policy advocacy in helping asset owners meet their fiduciary duty, Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner backed state legislation introduced in January to strengthen the Treasury's ability to manage risks. The bill supports the Treasury's ability to pursue the near- and long-term investment strategies needed to reduce climate-related investment risks and protect the Oregon public employee retirement fund. Momentum is also strong north of the border. In February, a group of Canadian asset owners representing CAD 53 billion issued a call for the country's financial institutions to stay committed to their net zero goals and to translate them into robust action plans--essential for maintaining a competitive and stable financial system. The consequences of wavering on climate action are also becoming increasingly tangible. European Investors Reconsider U.S. Exposure Major European investors are reassessing their exposure to U.S. asset managers amid concerns about declining policy certainty and a perceived erosion of leadership in the clean economy. Dutch pension fund PME, which manages €57 billion, is reviewing a €5 billion mandate with BlackRock following its exit from a key responsible investing group. Meanwhile, Amundi, Europe's largest asset manager, noted last month that clients have 'massively repositioned' to avoid U.S. markets, driven by unease over inconsistent clean economy policy signals and other geopolitical concerns. The message from institutional investors in 2025 is clear: climate strategy is foundational to fiduciary duty. As stewards of long-term capital, asset owners are not just adapting to a changing world; they're shaping it.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Don't fall for the rent-freeze demagogues — they'll make NY's housing squeeze WORSE
Left-wing mayoral candidates and a newly launched 'housing justice' pressure group are dangling the promise of a multi-year rent freeze for the city's nearly one million rent-regulated units. That's more than half the rental apartments in Gotham. It's a cynical political strategy: Pander to a segment of single-issue voters almost too large to resist — and capture the mayoralty. Advertisement Actually implementing that freeze would turn the entire city into a slum of dilapidated and abandoned buildings, forcing thousands of occupants to live in squalor in un-maintained apartments. And it could happen. Just look at the electoral math. Advertisement In New York City, occupants of rent-stabilized apartments — about 1.7 million people living in about 980,000 units — outnumber renters in unregulated apartments. If these rent-regulation beneficiaries are mobilized as single-issue voters, they can swing an election. Barely a million people voted in the 2021 mayoral primary, and just over 1.1 million in the general. Leftist candidates are not leaving it to chance. Advertisement Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Jessica Ramos have all committed to freezing rents if they're elected. 'Tenants are a majority and it's time we had a mayor who acted like it,' Mamdani says. He's calculating that this one voting bloc can carry him to victory. New York State Tenant Bloc, the new pressure group launched by the lefty nonprofit Housing Justice for All, is making the same calculation statewide. Advertisement 'There are over 9 million tenants in New York,' its website declares. 'There's millions more tenants than there are landlords. We have the power to break the real estate industry's grip on our lives by uniting as a bloc.' 'Freeze the Rent!' — plastered on scarlet signs reminiscent of Communist China's flag — is the group's battle cry. Cornell professor Russell Weaver, who teaches courses in 'equitable community change,' calls tenants the 'sleeping giant' in future elections. Some are already awake: Assemblywoman Sarahana Shrestha, a Democratic Socialist representing the Hudson Valley, credits activist tenant voters for her own win in 2022. Now she's sponsoring the REST Act, which would permit towns and cities in all parts of the state to impose rent caps. Current law limits rent stabilization to New York City and downstate counties, unless a town performs a costly study to prove low vacancy rates — a requirement that has kept Poughkeepsie and Kingston from capping rents. Shrestha rants that 'tenants are half the state' and should vote as a bloc to throttle 'price-gouging landlords.' Advertisement But before falling for this demagoguery, New Yorkers need to know the brutal consequences of rent regulations and rent freezes. The nine members of the city's Rent Guidelines Board — all mayoral appointees — set permissible rent hikes on rent-regulated apartments once a year. Succumbing to political pressure, the RGB generally sets hikes at about half the inflation rate — so building owners facing rising property taxes and higher labor, energy and water costs get consistently shortchanged. Advertisement Eventually, many let their properties fall into disrepair, allow dilapidated units to sit vacant — or abandon their buildings altogether. With older housing stock crumbling and fewer units available, a housing shortage is inevitable. Sean Campion, the Citizens Budget Commission's housing expert, testified to the RGB this year that a significant share of buildings is heading into this maintenance 'death spiral.' That's the damage already caused by rent regulation — even before the leftists' threatened freeze. Advertisement Nationwide, rents in metro areas have fallen for 19 consecutive months — except, that is, in New York City, where the supply squeeze sends rents on unregulated units soaring. Denver, the metro area where rents are falling fastest, has no rent regulation. Colorado state law forbids it. That's what New York state should do. Advertisement What about helping the poor? Rent regulation doesn't accomplish that. Scoring a rent-regulated apartment requires no means testing. You need luck, sharp elbows — and often a wad of cash to buy your way in. Occupants of rent-regulated apartments — call them privileged renters — tend to have somewhat smaller incomes, but are also generally adults without kids. Families with young children, who need rent breaks the most to remain in the city, are less apt to luck out, according to the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. A fair system would provide assistance based on need — funded by all taxpayers, not only by building owners. New York doesn't command certain grocery stores to sell food at below-market prices to the needy. The taxpayer-funded SNAP program is there for that purpose. Rent regulation rewards pandering politicians, not the poor. That's why it survives. The radical calls for a rent freeze are a red flag that New Yorkers risk being crushed — steamrolled — by a mobilized bloc of voters looking out only for themselves. Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and co-founder of the Committee to Save Our City.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Federal judge blocks Trump's attempt to kill NYC congestion pricing program
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily halted the Trump administration's effort to kill New York City's controversial congestion pricing program. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman issued a temporary restraining order barring the administration from getting rid of the program and withholding federal funding if the city failed to nix the program. Liman's Tuesday restraining order keeps the tolls in place through at least June 9 and prevents Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy from retaliating against the city. In February, Trump posted an image of himself wearing a crown and wrote, "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!" Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. The program was launched in January, using electronic license plate readers and charging most drivers a $9 toll during peak periods to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street in an attempt to reduce congestion and raise funds to improve mass transit. The city said the program has dramatically reduced congestion on the roadways. There have been about 5.8 million fewer cars than expected in the congestion zone between January and March, or a reduction of about 8% to 13%, officials said. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the program was better for businesses, the city's tourism industry and bus and taxi rides. He noted that car crashes, noise complaints and traffic were down.
