Comptroller Candidates Mark Levine & Justin Brannan

The Comptroller is the guardian of New York City’s money. It’s an unglamorous but important position, and it generally attracts serious-minded candidates who don’t fear the job’s reputation as a political graveyard. Only one Comptroller has ever become Mayor: Abe Beame, in 1975. Because there hasn’t been a Republican Comptroller since Joseph McGoldrick left office in 1945, the Democratic primary is the de facto election.

In 2025, the two leading candidates for Comptroller are two serious men who don’t lack for humor when the occasion arises: Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and City Council Member—and Council Finance Committee Chair— Justin Brannan from District 47 in southwest Brooklyn. Both men accepted this reporter’s inquisitive jabbering (which has been edited for concision) with equanimity.

What books, fiction or non-fiction, have most informed your understanding of New York City?

Mark Levine: Am I allowed to run for citywide office if I don’t say [Robert Caro’s] “The Power Broker”? If so, as someone who loves learning new languages and understanding how they shape the world, I have to say “Names of New York: Discovering the City’s Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names” by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro.

Justin Brannan: Books about New York City are fun, but I grew up here and the truth is often more interesting than fiction. That said, you can’t go wrong with any book about Fiorello La Guardia or taking down Tammany Hall. “The Big Oyster” by Mark Kurlansky was great, too. I read that recently.

It’s a long movie night, or perhaps a three-day weekend. Pick three favorite New York City set films.

Brannan: Everybody knows the classics but outside the typical box I would recommend 25th Hour, Juice, and Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Levine: In the Heights, Taxi Driver, Do the Right Thing

What are pros and cons of the city’s myriad casino gambling proposals and what role might the comptroller play in its future here?

Brannan: I think everyone needs to fully understand the overall consequences of opening a casino in a community so the real life, real world, risk-benefit analysis here is everything. Casinos are not a panacea that will solve all of New York State’s fiscal challenges – especially in 2025 when everyone can gamble on their phones if they want to, casinos simply aren’t the cash cows Albany seems to think they are. And I’m the guy who reads all of [NYS Comptroller] Tom DiNapoli’s reports and the data shows that casinos elsewhere in New York State are not bringing in anywhere near the big tax revenues they promised. During my time as Councilman for Coney Island, I’ve had folks suggest we need lots of things–more jobs, more affordable housing, NYCHA improvements, better access to healthcare, infrastructure investments... but I honestly can’t say anyone has ever come up to me and said what we really need is a casino.

People in Coney are tired of being taken for a ride. So many politicians have come through here making big promises and then they do nothing so everyone is skeptical and I don’t blame them. So I think it’s important to have a robust community input process that includes official public hearings through the State-mandated Community Advisory Committee process so that all stakeholders have the opportunity to make their voices heard. It is not up to me to determine whether there is adequate support for the proposal–it is up to the community. Ultimately that is who I’ll be listening to because that’s my job.

Levine: There are multiple proposals in Manhattan, including one which I had already taken a position against on the far west side [Related Cos/Wynn Resorts where the casino portion of the project was recently scrapped] because it led to the loss of housing potential on the site. Moving forward, I’ll have a role on the Community Advisory Committee alongside my colleagues in the State Senate, Assembly and City Council. Through this process I’ll weigh the pros–including jobs created and revenue generated, against the cons–including impact on the local communities. In the end, a very high bar must be achieved.

Mayor Adams has been criticized from all sides for his handling of the migrant crisis. What is the economic reality of the city’s multi-billion dollar “right to shelter” policy as it pertains to migrants and the federal government’s lack of migrant-related financial support?

While nearly all New Yorkers understand that, historically, migration is a great net gain, history fails to show any precedent for such a costly program of population increase.

Levine: Let me be clear: No matter what Donald Trump or Eric Adams may want you to believe, migrants coming to New York and immigrants in our communities are making our city more diverse and more vibrant. Eric Adams has spent four years attacking these New Yorkers, and Donald Trump is attacking them again. We must stand up to this dangerous rhetoric from City Hall and fight back against attacks from Washington D.C.

New York has long been a place of refuge for those seeking safety and opportunity, and that must not change. But the City needs strong partnership from the State and Federal governments to ensure that we are meeting this need – both so that we can provide access to housing, but also get people into the workforce quickly so that they can begin earning a living, and contributing to our economy.

Immigration has always been a net gain for New York City. What’s unprecedented about the most recent wave of migrants is the lack of federal coordination and support.

Today’s asylum seekers and immigrants have to wait at least 180 days after filing for asylum to apply for a work permit - often longer due to backlogs and administrative errors - which leaves them without the ability to support themselves and their families and often causes them to depend on City services for much longer than necessary. This costs the city money that could be saved by granting immigrants Temporary Work Status upon entry to the country.

Brannan: When the mayor came out and proclaimed that [Texas Goveror Greg] Ghoul Abbot’s manufactured migrant crisis would “bankrupt” New York City, I was one of the first to call him out because I knew it was a divisive lie. The mayor suggesting the garbage wouldn’t get picked up in Ozone Park because of the migrants or that we might have to fire NYC cops because too many families were seeking a better life here was just disgusting and vile and not how the Mayor of New York City should be leading during a crisis. Because, in reality, it was the opposite as mass deportations would bankrupt New York City.

I do think President Biden dropped the ball and I said as much at the time. It should not be and frankly cannot be the responsibility of a municipality to finance or manage an international migrant crisis. And, let’s be real: 40 years of kicking the can down the road on immigration reform got us here–and that’s on both parties. New York City’s compassion is limitless. Our resources are not. But all the cuts the mayor threatened, none of it was necessary. We were vindicated there. Honestly, the bigger challenge was always dealing with the final expiration of the COVID stimulus funds because so many permanent programs had been funded with temporary money. That was a bigger obstacle for us during budget negotiations than the migrant crisis.

It’s take your reporter to work day! My mom’s up from Florida visiting her granddaughter and always wanted to meet you guys. Let’s meet in City Hall Park and go where, to show off the neighborhood and government?

Brannan: First, we’ll take the N train to the last stop in Coney Island and ride the Wonder Wheel and buy your mom some candy apples from Williams Candy Shop. My district office is on Mermaid Avenue so we can kill two birds with one stone and stop there so I can show you what we’re working on to fund repairs to the iconic Coney Island boardwalk! Win-win.

Levine: Couple of Municipal Building to see the seat of municipal government–and I think this should be open to the public for tours! Chinatown for the food and the vibrancy, as well as the community organizing capacity that is keeping this community strong. Gotham Park–which is turning an underutilized stretch under the FDR into a vibrant, community space.

If your campaign had a theme song what would it be?

JB: C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) by Wu-Tang

ML: Come and Be a Winner By Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings