Justin Brannan, He/Him
New York City Comptroller
JustinBrannan.com
QUESTIONNAIRE:
1. Why do you want LID’s endorsement?
I have always been a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community both in the streets and behind
closed doors at City Hall. With the Trump administration relentlessly attacking hard-won
LGBTQIA+ rights, I want to work alongside LID (as I always have) to ensure New York City
remains a stronghold for equality. LID’s leadership and members are invaluable partners, and
together, we can build an unshakable firewall to protect our communities and advance
progress. We cannot go back. We need to keep pushing forward.
2. If you have previously held office, describe a time while elected that you advocated and
acted for the LGBTQIA+ community. If you have not held office, describe a time you have
advocated for the LGBTQIA+ community.
As Chair of the Committee on Finance, I’ve helped LGBTQIA+ non-profit organizations receive
more and more funding each budget I’ve negotiated. Additionally, I’ve sponsored legislation
requiring the administration for children’s services to report annually on the number of and
placement of LGBTQ+ foster youth as well as to collect LGBTQIA+ foster youth experience
surveys. I’ve also introduced legislation to create a division of LGBT youth services within the
department of health and mental hygiene.
3. Are you accepting campaign contributions from law enforcement or for profit real estate?
I am not accepting campaign contributions from law enforcement. Past donations from law
enforcement prior to 2019 have all been donated to Black-led ATI and criminal justice & police
reform organizations. I do accept personal donations from individuals who work in real estate
like brokers, etc. if I have a pre-existing relationship with them.
4. Has Mayor Eric Adams met the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community? Please include “yes” or
“no” in your answer.
No. Outside of lip service what has he done?
5. Are you committed to continuing and expanding city support for the Summer Youth
Employment Program Pride initiative (SYEP Pride)?
Absolutely! SYEP is a big priority for me and for the City Council.
6. How will you support and empower the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly at this time
when LGBTQIA+ rights, and transgender rights in particular, are under attack nationwide?
At a time when LGBTQIA+ rights, especially transgender rights, are under attack nationwide, we
need more than just words and allies; we need action. As Comptroller, I will ensure that the
organizations providing life-saving services to the LGBTQIA+ community get the resources they
need and that every dollar is spent effectively. No community should have to fight over crumbs,
especially when their rights and safety are on the line. I’ll use the power of the office to hold
agencies accountable, push for funding equity, and make sure NYC remains a safe, supportive
home for all LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.
7. How will you support and empower marginalized Brooklynites?
Income inequality isn’t just the reason working people are still struggling to make ends meet -
it’s one of the greatest challenges facing our city and our nation. The best tool we have to fight
the effects of income inequality is the city budget, which can help improve the cost of living and
deliver vital programs that can make life easier for working people. A couple of ideas I have for
both the city budget and our $300 billion pension system include:
Diversifying Investments
As Comptroller, I’ll champion initiatives to strengthen Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs),
recognizing their critical role in providing banking services, loans, and access to capital in
historically neglected communities. These institutions are vital to job creation, fostering small
business growth, and building generational wealth in under-resourced neighborhoods. I also
believe the city's pension funds should reflect the diversity of the city they serve. I’m dedicated
to bringing more women and people of color into the ranks of pension fund managers, ensuring
that investment strategies benefit from a wide range of perspectives and expertise. By
supporting MDIs and prioritizing inclusive investment practices, we will help grow opportunity,
close wealth gaps, and lift up communities that have been overlooked for far too long.
Creating a First in the Nation Universal Childcare System
Raising a family in New York City can feel impossibly hard, and working families deserve real
solutions to the challenges they face. As Finance Chair, I’ve stood up against proposed cuts to
early childhood education and after-school programs, making sure working parents had the
support they needed. But more must be done. Universal childcare wouldn’t just be a
gamechanger for working families, it would be a game changer for our economy. I’ve been a
champion for creating a universal child care system for many years. As Comptroller, I’ll work to
identify the necessary funding to ensure that every family has access to high-quality childcare.
This bold initiative will help parents stay in the workforce, give children the foundation they
need to thrive, and make New York City a place where families can build their futures.
Protecting Public School Budgets
Education is the key to New York City’s future. I will use the power of the Comptroller’s office to
audit the New York City Department of Education and ensure every dollar spent enhances
classrooms, supports teachers, and improves outcomes for students. I’ll also work to expand
school-based services like mental health support and after-school programs to better serve
families and mandate arts and music instruction in every public school, ensuring students
receive a well-rounded education.
8. Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in safeguarding the social safety net for millions of
New Yorkers. Nonprofit organizations, including LGBTQIA+ community centers, are more than
contractors; they are essential partners in addressing homelessness, hunger, healthcare,
education, and more. However, chronic delays in city payments have left these organizations
on the brink of collapse, threatening the services our most vulnerable residents rely on every
day.
Will you commit to prioritizing timely payments to nonprofits, working to break down
bureaucratic barriers that prevent timely payments, supporting financial stability for
nonprofits, and working to uphold our critical NYC safety net?
Absolutely. Nonprofits are the backbone of our city’s social safety net, and the chronic delays in
city payments are unacceptable. That’s why I’ve been fighting to fix this since becoming
Finance Chair in 2022. I’ve worked closely with the Human Services Council, introduced
legislation to hold the city accountable by forcing it to pay interest on loans nonprofits are forced
to take out due to delayed payments, and co-wrote an op-ed on this issue with Council Member
Althea Stevens—because this crisis cannot be ignored. As Comptroller, I will continue this fight
to ensure nonprofits get paid on time and are actually appreciated by our city for the invaluable
work they do for New Yorkers.
9. The city is currently behind the legally mandated timeline to close the jails on Rikers Island
by 2027? Are you committed to this deadline and if so, what will you do to ensure the City
meets it? If not, what steps do you propose taking to reduce incarceration and uphold the
civil rights and human dignity of individuals confined in our City jails, particularly transgender,
gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people?
It is a moral imperative to close Rikers Island. I would use the office of the Comptroller to act
upon the four recommendations of Comptroller Lander’s report “Ensuring Timely Trials”:
1. Establish a formal, coordinated Working Group charged with the explicit goal to reduce
the population at Rikers Island to triage and expedite cases on an ongoing basis and
propose and execute systemic reforms.
2. Adopt enhanced goals to expedite the processing of felony cases in a manner
consistent with national best practices, with a particular focus on reducing case
processing times for long-staying individuals.
3. Invest in and implement 21st Century scheduling software for speedier trials.
4. Implement discovery technology improvements to enhance and expedite access to
NYPD records and case files for prosecutors and defenders.
These points would help expedite the processing times that are dramatically inflating New York
City’s jail population.
10. Do you support the proposed Haven Green development in the Lower East Side, which
would create much-needed housing for LGBTQ+ seniors, among others? What other steps will
you take to address the affordability crisis and increase housing available to New Yorkers,
particularly individuals moving here to escape harmful red-state policies?
We’re in a hair-on-fire housing crisis, and we’ve gotta get affordable housing built, but where we
can we shouldn’t do it at the expense of limited neighborhood green spaces. I’m in favor of the
alternative city-owned site solution that includes the use of 388 Hudson — an empty, city-owned
lot — and other nearby sites to provide up to 5x the amount of affordable housing and additional
public open space while saving Elizabeth Street Garden.
11. What steps are you prepared to take to combat Trump Administration policies that harm
New Yorkers?
Once again, big, bold municipal governments will be on the front lines. We must lead where the
federal government fails. We need to promote affordability by building more housing for all
income levels while strengthening rent regulation. We need to expand subsidized child care
programs that working families can actually afford. We need to ensure our public schools can
continue to provide a robust learning environment for all students, even as Trump moves to
abolish the federal Department of Education.
We must double down on our social safety net with unwavering support for public housing,
hospitals and health initiatives. And we must shield New Yorkers from the worst of Republicans’
assault on our fundamental rights and freedoms: reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights,
protections for immigrants, climate crisis mitigations and resiliency measures, and simple
human decency.
The mayor has vowed to fight for our city’s values amid Trump’s decisive victory. Soon he will
have the chance to prove it. New York City’s economy is undeniably strong. It’s time to end the
doom-and-gloom approach to revenue projections. With Trump back in the White House, New
Yorkers will be up against plenty. Our communities can’t afford another extended game of
chicken where funding for our schools, daycares, libraries, nonprofits, housing vouchers,
homeless services, and other desperately needed supportive programs for low-income and
working class New Yorkers hangs in the balance.
These are uncertain times but I can promise you this: As your Comptroller, I will continue to
stand up for you and your family. We will fight like hell for a city budget that funds our public
education system and our parks, provides food for the hungry, builds affordable housing, and
keeps our neighborhoods safe and clean.
A budget that funds—and pays on time—nonprofits keeping our communities safe and secure,
keeps the doors to our libraries and cultural institutions open to all, and creates an environment
where New Yorkers of all backgrounds can thrive without fear no matter who is in the White
House.
Please answer YES or NO to indicate support for, or opposition to, the following following city
council initiatives:
1. Int. 3093-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to access to gender-affirming care facilities and a cause of action related to interference with
gender-affirming care.
Yes.
2. Int. 3184-A: Local Law in relation to requiring the chair of the commission on gender equity
to develop a plan to support newly arrived migrants 24-years-old and younger and
transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex newly arrived migrants.
Yes.
3. Int. 3183-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to requiring the commissioner of health and mental hygiene to develop a health agenda to
promote the health and wellbeing of transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and
intersex New Yorkers.
Yes.
4. Int. 3179-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to a public information and outreach campaign regarding legal rights and resources available
to Transgender, Gender Non-conforming, and Nonbinary (TGNCNB) individuals.
Yes.
5. Int. 3105-Oversight: Ensuring Access to Supports for TGNCNB People in New York City.
Yes.
6. Int. 0149-2024: The Sex Worker Protection Act, championed by LGBTQIA+ Caucus Co-Chair
Council Member Tiffany Cabán, Council Member Crystal Hudson.
No, I am not currently a co-sponsor of this legislation.
COMMITMENTS:
● If endorsed, do you commit to using LID’s full logo and full name on all materials and other
places where you list endorsees (with the exception of lists of specific organizations (unions,
etc) or elected officials)?
Absolutely.
● Do you commit to using inclusive and gender-neutral language in press releases and other
announcements (e.g., “the people of the..” instead of “the men and women of the...”
Yes.