Brad Lander

Hundreds Rally for Boy, 6, Who Was Separated From His Father by ICE

Taking children from their families is not normal.

Six-year-olds know it. Even if POTUS doesn’t.

Thanks to @indivisible.org Western Queens, PS 166 families, and his teacher Rachel, whose beautiful description of Yuanxin Zheng reduced us all to tears.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/n...

Props to @haelinchoi.bsky.social and the team from @handsoffnyc.bsky.social @bkindivisible.bsky.social @thenyic.bsky.social and the 1000+ people (incl. Rosa & me) who turned out yesterday for training/organizing events in Brooklyn & the Bronx to protect our neighbors and get Trump’s ICE out of NYC.

In my Substack yesterday, I got the law firm representing Aissatou Diallou wrong.

Rebecca Press is at Co-Counsel NYC, a wonderful non-profit legal organization that serves NYC’s immigrant communities, that she co-founded two years ago.

Check ‘em out: cocounsel.org

Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide Trump administration is pausing naturalizations for immigrants from 19 countries.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.“

We’ll take the Statue of Liberty & these new U.S. citizens.

You can keep Stephen Miller and Donald Trump, and their small, cruel, heartless racism.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

I pled "not guilty" yesterday. Someone did "unreasonably obstruct the usual use" of the federal building. But it wasn't me.

I pled “not guilty” in federal court yesterday.

Someone did “unreasonably obstruct the usual use” of the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza.

But it wasn’t me.

Here’s why: open.substack.com/pub/bradland...

But attacking pre-school teachers because they don’t think Palestinian kids should be bombed to death? Declaring NYC’s first Muslim mayor “our enemy?” Fomenting hatred, even within the Jewish community?

You’re not making anyone safer.

I believe that what will keep Jewish New Yorkers – and all New Yorkers – safe is inclusive, multiracial democracy. Bad faith attacks, division, and racism won't protect us.

If you want to disagree with me, great. That’s part of being Jewish New Yorkers. 🧵

American Jews feel anxious right now. I feel it, too. These are frightening times. Antisemitism is on the rise – from right, left & indiscriminate. Authoritarianism too.

It’s OK that we’ve got different views on what will keep us safe. And on the role of Israel in our lives. 🧵

We’ve been having these debates all the way back to the first exile in Babylon. Some wanted to get back to Judea right away. Others stayed, and gave us the legacy of the Babylonian Talmud & diaspora.

They disagreed, and so do we. Maybe that’s why we call it Talmudic. 🧵

Meanwhile, the “American Jewish right” is making clear that they view progressive and even centrist Jews – basically anyone who isn’t in lock-step with Netanyahu – as their enemies.

They think they are modern-day Maccabees. 🧵

Marc Rowan declares Mamdani ‘our enemy’ at 50th UJA-Federation Wall Street Dinner The event, which grossed a record-breaking $57 million in donations, also memorialized Wesley LePatner, the Blackstone executive who was killed in July

It is outrageous that Marc Rowan stood at the UJA Federation dinner (a memorial for Wesley LePatner) and said about Zohran: “He is our enemy.”

Who’s trying to make Jewish New Yorkers safer – and who’s fanning the flames of hatred? 🧵

ejewishphilanthropy.com/marc-rowan-d...

Ms. Rachel is a kind & humane teacher whose offense is speaking up against killing children in Gaza. Cynthia Nixon has Jewish kids, and has never said or done one antisemitic thing.

This is not just gross & offensive – it trivializes real antisemitism. 🧵

Attacking pre-school teachers because they don’t think Palestinian kids should be bombed to death? Declaring NYC’s first Muslim mayor “our enemy?” Fomenting hatred, even within the Jewish community?

You’re not making anyone safer.🧵

Read these words. This is your country doing this:

“Pregnant & postpartum women report starving in ICE custody, freezing cells, invasive procedures, miscarriages, their pleas for help going unanswered.”

Thank you @rfkhumanrights.bsky.social @the-independent.com for shining a light on these horrors

Covers retail too!

www.nyc.gov/site/dca/bus...

My Fair Work Week law requires fast-food restaurants to give workers stable schedules & pathways to F/T jobs.

Starbucks has cheated 15,000 baristas—now they have to pay up.

Props @sbworkersunited.org & @hellodcwp.bsky.social for the biggest workers’ right enforcement action in NYC history.

Welcome to the club @bfurnas.bsky.social!

May this be neither of our last hit-pieces from the Post!

While I’m glad Commissioner Tisch let Ricky Patel (Special Agent in Charge at HSI) know that she’s not happy with their raids, I’m disturbed by footage of NYPD officers clearing the way for ICE vehicles. It’s a violation of our sanctuary city law to facilitate deportations.
x.com/emmagf/statu...

Several Arrested as Protesters Block Federal Agents in Manhattan Garage

Props to the protestors who the New York Times credits for foiling ICE’s intended raid in Chinatown earlier today.

So many people are showing they know what it means to be New Yorkers!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...

Gratitude For those who help heal what's broken, especially.

This Thanksgiving, there are a lot of broken things to heal. And a lot to be grateful for.
open.substack.com/pub/bradland...

My parents have been taking me to help serve Thanksgiving meals for as long as I can remember. Great to have Marek in on the tradition today.

One takeaway: people love pies!

Thanks CHIPS soup kitchen for helping us remember some of what we’re grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks CHIPS soup kitchen for bringing neighbors together to look out for each other — today and every day.

Glorious morning in @prospectparking.bsky.social for the Prospect Park Track Club #TurkeyTrot aka run for reconciliation benefitting the American Indian Community House.

So grateful for those who tend our most treasured places, and work to repair what’s been broken.

#HappyThanksgiving

NYC’s Lander Recommends Dropping $42 Billion BlackRock Mandate New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is urging three of the city’s pension funds to drop BlackRock Inc. because of “inadequate” climate plans, the latest move to penalize investment firms for failing...

Landmark move: New York City's comptroller @bradlander.bsky.social, with hundreds of billions under his control, recommends dropping investment giant Blackrock because they won't reckon with climate change.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Now, it’s time for me to hand responsibility off to the next stewards of our future – both of the retirement security of our City’s employees, and of the planet we live on.

MAGA money managers are trying to burn up both.

We must not let them.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

NYC pension funds surpass climate emission reduction targets New York City’s pension fund group has surpassed its climate emissions targets, even as the Trump administration rolls back environmental and climate rules.

Our funds have achieved a 37% reduction in emissions, divested fossil fuels, scaled up climate solutions investments to $12B, and pressured banks & utilities — while achieving strong returns (10.5% in FY2025).

It’s a legacy I’m proud of.
greencentralbanking.com/2025/03/28/n...

What good is an asset manager to an asset owner, if they won’t engage with the companies they own on our behalf (i.e. with our money) to address long-term risk?

BlackRock claims this is necessary to meet Trump/SEC’s new requirements — but State Street (the #2 institutional asset manager) has not taken this conservative approach, and continues to engage proactively with companies where they own more than 5%.

As a result, BlackRock’s engagement does not sufficiently encourage portfolio companies to take concrete decarbonization actions, such as setting net-zero goals, adopting science-based targets, or aligning lobbying and capital expenditures with climate goals.

Following Trump Administration changes in reporting requirements to the SEC, BlackRock announced earlier this year it has ceased proactive engagement on proxy voting issues with U.S. companies where it owns 5% or more.