Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander on Wednesday grew to become the newest Democratic mayoral candidate to hit the airwaves with a TV advert portraying himself as a “crusher” of corruption, he says, epitomized by main rival Andrew Cuomo and President Trump.
With the discharge of Lander’s 30-second spot, the race has absolutely entered its remaining stretch, through which candidates flood TV with advertisements introducing themselves and attacking their rivals, main as much as the June 24 major. Lander and plenty of different candidates are banking on TV promoting diminishing Cuomo’s commanding lead, which months of assaults from rivals have not appeared to place a dent in.
Lander within the junkyard
Within the spot, Lander says he’ll drive a entrance loader by a junkyard, lifting up automobiles with phrases like “corruption” spray-painted on them right into a hydraulic press, which then crushes them. In accordance with Lander’s marketing campaign, the advert is a part of a $732,000 purchase that can air throughout all broadcast channels, together with a wide selection of cable stations and streaming websites.
“This ad introduces Brad Lander to voters as the honest, effective fighter New York City needs to stand up to Trump and turn the page on [Mayor] Eric Adams’ chaos, in stark contrast to Andrew Cuomo,” stated Lander marketing campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec in an announcement.
Pekec stated the advert didn’t make use of AI or different laptop graphics. As an alternative, it used actual automobiles spray-painted with the phrases. The automobiles had been present in a Queens junkyard, she stated.
Lander used a large portion of the roughly $4.6 million in his marketing campaign account to finance the advert.
The comptroller’s spot opens with a dramatic voiceover blasting Cuomo, the previous governor who resigned in 2021 amid a number of accusations of sexual misconduct that he denies, over the upwards of $60 million the state has spent on authorized issues stemming from his scandals whereas in workplace.
“New York City needs a mayor who can focus on our problems, not their own. We need Brad Lander,” the voiceover says. “Andrew Cuomo spent $60 million of your money to defend himself in court. That’s corrupt. But Brad Lander fights corruption to make New York safer and more affordable.”
Cuomo marketing campaign scoffs
In response, Cuomo marketing campaign spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi stated, “This city is in crisis and Governor Cuomo is the only person in this race with the management experience and the proven record of results to get New York back on track and no amount of desperate gutter tactics from a career politician polling in single digits with no accomplishments or vision of his own will change that.”
He additionally despatched the notorious photograph of failed Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in a tank throughout his 1988 marketing campaign.
The comptroller has accused Cuomo of fecklessly spending tens of millions in taxpayer {dollars} on his personal authorized protection in opposition to lawsuits introduced by a few of his almost a dozen sexual harassment accusers. Cuomo’s staff has pushed again, arguing that a lot of the $60 million sum was indirectly spent on Cuomo’s private authorized charges.
Within the advert, Lander additionally targets Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who has led the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) since Trump took workplace.
The voiceover says he “stood up to” Trump and Musk, when the pair clawed again $80 million in metropolis migrant help in February, by pushing Mayor Adams’ administration to sue over the transfer. Lander then hundreds a Tesla, a automobile made by certainly one of Musk’s corporations, into the hydraulic press with Trump’s and Musk’s names on it to be crushed.
The comptroller’s advert is much like one launched by Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani a few weeks in the past, which additionally centered on contrasting Mamdani’s file with Cuomo’s and Adams’. Mamdani is at present operating in second place to Cuomo, in response to a string of current polls.
An excellent PAC supporting Cuomo’s marketing campaign, referred to as “Fix the City,” has been operating advertisements for just a few weeks casting the town as “in crisis” and stating that he’s one of the best individual to repair it.
