Brad Lander got to do what few city comptrollers get to do — drive a forklift.

The mayoral candidate did it for his first campaign ad called, "Corruption Crusher." In the ad, Lander appears in the forklift at a junkyard where cars labeled "Corruption" and "Trump & Musk" get crushed.


What You Need To Know

  • Brad Lander, the current city comptroller, put up his first TV campaign ad 

  • Lander is putting $732,000 behind the ad

  • Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, is planning to run on an independent party line in the general election called "Fight and Deliver"

The "corruption" referenced in the ad — Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, who had the state cover legal fees stemming from his sexual harassment allegations and handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

Lander's campaign is spending more than $732,000 to broadcast it.

"We're sick of corruption and we want honesty at City Hall," Lander told NY1. "We're done with Eric Adams' corruption and people don't want Andrew Cuomo's history of corruption either."

"We know you want to fight back against Musk and Trump, let's find a way to show that that's fun and that's gritty," Lander said.

"Brad Lander is resorting to tired political attacks because he doesn't have a record strong enough to stand on," Todd Shapiro, an Adams campaign spokesman, said.

And the tough talk from Lander did little to scare Team Cuomo.

To a Cuomo spokesman, the image of Lander operating a forklift was like Michael Dukakis riding a tank, and sent NY1 that iconic photo of the campaign killing Dukakis stunt as a reference.

In a statement, Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo said, “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."

Meanwhile, Cuomo, who leads in the Democratic primary polls, announced this week his plan to petition his way onto the general election ballot with an new party he calls, "Fight and Deliver."

It's aimed at "disillusioned Democrats," Republicans and independents, a campaign statement said.

An independent ballot line in the general election sounded all too familiar to Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent in November.

"All he's doing is looking at Eric Adams' playbook," Adams said at a news conference Tuesday. "He follows my housing plans. He follows my mental health plans. It just seems like he's just going through the motion. Is it me?

Criticism from "a desperate man" Cuomo campaign responded.