Candidates Mark Levine (D) and Justin Brannan (D) spotlight affordability, protecting city finances from Trump

City comptroller candidates Mark Levine and Justin Brannan engaged in a Tuesday morning debate that played more as a tame conversation on managing the city’s finances.

Offering a rare reprieve from an election season dominated by the heated Democratic mayoral primary, the nearly 90-minute event at the New York Law School saw Levine, the Manhattan borough president, and Brannan, the City Council’s Finance chair, speak about their qualifications and vision for the fiscal watchdog post. The job opened up after current city Comptroller Brad Lander launched his own campaign for mayor last summer.

The debate, the first of the comptroller’s race, was hosted by the Citizens Budget Commission and New York Law School and was moderated by CBC Chair Andrew Rein and Ben Max, the executive editor and program director at the school’s Center for New York City & State Law.

Throughout the event, there was little daylight between the two candidates’ answers to many of the moderators’ questions. The most raucous part of the event came when Ismael Malave, another comptroller candidate who did not raise enough money to qualify for the debate, repeatedly interrupted to demand he be able to join.




https://www.amny.com/news/city-comptroller-debate-levine-brannan-03182025/