Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani are each incredible leaders in their own right. But at this year’s Mazals, we honor their partnership and the hope and optimism they’ve inspired.
Brad Lander: Brad Lander is a dad, a Brooklynite, and a lifelong public servant who has spent his career solving New Yorkers problems — first as an affordable housing leader, then in the City Council, and now as NYC Comptroller. For years, Brad ran housing organizations like the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Pratt Center for Community Development, building and saving thousands of affordable homes. On the City Council, Brad passed groundbreaking legislation to protect workers. In Gowanus, he led the largest redevelopment effort in the city that created thousands of units of affordable housing. As Comptroller, Brad was the first public official to stand up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk when they stole $80 million in taxpayer money from our city, and he rejected Eric Adams’s no-bid contract that wasted $432 million in taxpayer money. From his days in City Council to his current role as Comptroller, Brad has been JFREJ’s staunchest ally in office for over a decade, including organizing with us to pass landmark legislation to end Stop & Frisk in NYC, and most recently, putting his body on the line between new New Yorkers and the ICE Gestapo who have invaded our city.
Zohran Mamdani: Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a New York State Assemblymember, democratic socialist, and the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City. Born in Uganda and raised in NYC, he has fought for the working class in and outside the legislature: hunger striking alongside taxi drivers to achieve more than $450 million in transformative debt relief, winning over $100 million in the state budget for increased subway service and a successful fare-free bus pilot, and organizing New Yorkers to defeat a proposed dirty power plant. JFREJ has been proud to organize alongside him for a ceasefire and full hostage deal, for Fair Pay for Home Care, and for the Not On Our Dime Act, and to have endorsed him for mayor.
Together, Brad and Zohran – a progressive Jew and a Muslim socialist – teamed up, refusing to attack one another, and stayed focused on preventing Cuomo’s comeback. Their ongoing collaboration has been a model of true solidarity and leadership dedicated to the public good, offering a new kind of politics altogether. Instead of vicious infighting, we got joyful collaboration. We got to see what happens when we join forces as progressives and Leftists, have each others’ backs, and maximize our collective power. We are delighted to honor them.
