Mayor Eric Adams railed against lefty New York City Comptroller Brad Lander – who he dubbed the “loudest person in the city” – for not speaking up to request migrant funds from the Biden administration.
“Brad Lander, the loudest person in the city, has yet to go to Washington to deal with the number one issue that this city’s facing. Think about that for a moment,” Adams ranted Thursday.
“The loudest,” he started, before slipping into a mocking impression of the fellow Democrat, quipping “I think Eric should!”
“The loudest person in the city has yet to go to Washington, D.C.!” exclaimed an exasperated Hizzoner.
A City Council delegation led by Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) traveled to the US capital on Tuesday to lobby White House officials and members of New York’s congressional delegation on delivering more migrant-related federal aid.
Lander did not join the trip.
But Adams previously shamed Lander into publicly demanding the federal government to come to the city’s rescue.
He’s repeatedly complained other city pols aren’t taking his migrant money pleas seriously as the city is staring down the barrel of a $4.3 billion price tag.
“I mean, y’all don’t find that strange? You got to find it strange! The loudest person. And I want to say this again: The loudest person who is in charge of our finances, he’s called Comptroller Brad Lander, he has not gone to Washington, D.C. and fought on behalf of New Yorkers to get their fair share. He has not gone to Washington, D.C.!” he continued, looking straight at the camera.
Lander responded in a statement that he’s been focused on Adams’ “failure” to prioritize legal services for migrants. He’s been pushing for a $70 million pot to be included in the city budget, due June 30.
“What I’ve consistently been loud about is the Mayor’s failure to focus on the most urgent thing that City Hall can do to help people move out of shelter: legal services to help people file their asylum applications so they can get work authorization,” the pol said in a statement.
“In fact, it was my conversations with federal officials as I have been pushing for more resources over many months that highlighted the urgency of that work.”
A Lander spokeswoman also noted Adams’ imitation of her boss “shows hypersensitivity to criticism rather than the Mayoral leadership needed to navigate an emergency.”
The city was awarded $104.5 million in additional funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Wednesday – bringing the Big Apple’s total federal award pot to a little over $140 million.
City Hall has been struggling to find additional spaces to house the over 45,000 migrants in city care and has been reviewing additional locations upstate and around the five boroughs.
Migrants were moved late Wednesday to a new temporary shelter at a JFK warehouse – Building 197 – an Adams spokesman told The Post.