Brad Lander — The Man Who Tried Making Antisemitism Kosher

by Harry Singer

How a Once-Promising Advocate for Workers Lost His Moral Compass

By the time Brad Lander launched his congressional campaign on December 10, 2025—complete with a treacly Mister Rogers–themed video featuring animated birds and a soft croon of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”—New York City’s Comptroller had fully reinvented himself. The transformation was startling. The public servant who once invoked Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as his moral compass now derides AIPAC, campaigns for anti-Zionists, and labels Israel’s defensive war against Hamas a “genocide.” The reformer who built his career on ethics and accountability admitted to violating ethics laws himself. The progressive champion of transparency now frustrates environmental allies by missing deadlines and shirking commitments.

To his credit, Lander made significant contributions to the lives of low-wage workers: paid sick leave over Bloomberg’s veto, restrictions on abusive scheduling, protection for freelancers, and precedent-setting wage rules for ride-hail drivers. Those achievements are real. They matter.

But they are no longer the defining feature of Brad Lander’s public life. They have been overshadowed—often drowned out—by a troubling pattern of ethical lapses, ideological radicalization, and political opportunism that raises serious questions about his judgment and integrity. And nowhere is that transformation more disturbing than in the role he has played—wittingly or unwittingly—in legitimizing antisemitism within progressive politics.

The Ethics Violation That Exposed the Reformer’s Cracks

In 2019, Lander admitted to an ethics violation after using his official government office to solicit money for a progressive nonprofit he created and chaired. The mere fact of the violation was embarrassing enough. But the context made it worse: Lander was chairing the City Council’s Committee on Rules, Privileges and Ethics at the time.

A man tasked with upholding ethical standards in city government was violating them himself.

This was neither a gray area nor a harmless technical oversight. It was a straightforward misuse of power—leveraging public authority for institutional gain, and undermining the very credibility he claimed to embody.

From Heschel’s Zionism to “Genocide” Claims: The Moral Unraveling

Lander frequently invokes Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as a guiding inspiration. But the comparison has become increasingly hollow. Heschel was not only a leading voice for civil rights—he was a proud, unapologetic Zionist. He wrote passionately about the Jewish people’s eternal bond with Israel:

“The land was taken from the Jewish people by violence, and we have never abandoned hope of regaining it… an eternal link.”

This is the legacy Lander claims to inherit.

Yet today, Lander positions himself as one of the progressive movement’s leading antagonists of mainstream Jewish institutions. In his congressional launch video, he took deliberate aim at AIPAC, sneering that America’s challenges cannot be solved “by doing AIPAC’s bidding.” He has repeatedly used charged and inaccurate rhetoric to describe Israel’s war—triggered by the October 7 atrocities—as a “genocide.”

This language matters. It is not policy critique. It is demonization. It is the appropriation of Jewish identity to give cover to anti-Israel hostility at a moment when antisemitism is surging nationwide.

His cross-endorsement and vigorous campaigning for Zohran Mamdani—a proudly anti-Zionist politician whose rhetoric is so extreme that Congressman Dan Goldman refused to support him—illustrates the problem starkly. As the Forward noted, Lander championed Mamdani “at a time when fierce reaction to the war in Gaza led to Jews feeling unsafe and isolated, and anti-Jewish attacks rose.”

This is what critics mean when they say Brad Lander has helped “kosherize” antisemitism.

He gives progressive anti-Israel movements the one thing they desperately crave: Jewish validation.

Lander did resign from the Democratic Socialists of America after the organization’s morally bankrupt response to October 7. But his subsequent actions reveal that departure to be more strategic than principled. Within months, he was again elevating candidates who traffic in anti-Zionist hostility and marginalizing mainstream Jewish organizations.

It is fair to ask:
What would Rabbi Heschel—who felt the fate of Israel as the fate of the Bible itself—say about the man now using his name to prop up anti-Israel politics?

A Broader Pattern of Poor Judgment

Lander’s ideological shift is not an isolated defect. It fits a long-standing pattern of questionable decision-making.

Intemperate Outbursts

In 2016, Lander referred to supporters of congressional challenger Yungman Lee as “scumbags.” His attempt to walk it back by claiming he was referring only to “dark money” entities did little to hide the underlying contempt.

Serial Political Arrests as Performance Art

Lander has been arrested repeatedly—2015, 2017, 2018, twice in 2025—ostensibly for civil disobedience in the name of justice. But critics argue these episodes function more as political theater than meaningful activism, substituting spectacle for policy substance.

Housing Mismanagement

His support for homeless shelter contracts with as much as $89 million in unexplained costs raised alarms across the city. His pandemic-era hotel housing plan sparked community outrage over increased disorder and safety concerns.

Defund-the-Police Zealotry

In June 2020, during a national rise in violent crime, Lander declared: “It is time to defund the police,” calling for a $1 billion cut to the NYPD and advocating for the dissolution of the Vice Unit.

Lackluster Legislative Performance

City & State ranked him in the bottom half of New York City lawmakers—30th of 51—based on bills passed, managerial competence, and constituent responsiveness.

Even His Progressive Allies Are Losing Patience

Lander’s failures are now alienating even the activists who helped elevate him. Environmental groups such as New York Communities for Change publicly rebuked him in 2025 for stalling on pension divestment from companies with poor environmental records—specifically BlackRock.

They accused Lander of breaking promises, missing deadlines, and offering excuses rather than action. NYCC even threatened to withdraw its endorsement, an extraordinary rebuke for a politician who brands himself the standard-bearer of the progressive left.

A politician who cannot retain the trust of his own ideological base is a politician adrift.

Conclusion: A Career Defined by Abandonment of Principle

Brad Lander’s early achievements in workers’ rights and economic fairness were genuinely impactful. They remain the strongest elements of his public legacy.

But they no longer outweigh the rest.

The ethics violation, the ideological lurch into anti-Israel extremism, the repeated misjudgments on policing and housing, the prioritization of performance activism over results, and the disillusionment of even his closest allies all point to a troubling conclusion:

Brad Lander has lost his way.

The smiling “Mister Rogers” persona of his campaign video cannot mask the deeper truth:
He has become a politician willing to weaponize identity, excuse extremism, and abandon principle whenever it suits the moment.

Brad Lander once promised to build a fairer, more compassionate city. Instead, in critical moments, he has given legitimacy to movements that make Jewish New Yorkers feel less safe, less represented, and less welcome in the city they call home.

New York deserves better than the man who tried making antisemitism kosher.