‘Progressive bromance’ over? Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander’s alliance grows strained

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

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It's Wednesday in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander’s cross-endorsement in the final stretch of the Democratic mayoral primary was hailed as a "progressive bromance" that demonstrated the promise of ranked-choice voting.

But in what's become the worst-kept secret in New York City politics, Lander has been telling people he wants to become the first deputy mayor should Mamdani win the general election.

Mamdani, in return, told Lander to knock it off, according to two sources familiar with the discussion.

Here's how Mamdani — whose hires would be highly scrutinized due to his own relative inexperience — has shifted his focus in the lead-up to November.  

And here's what else is happening:

• Large on-street garbage bins are set to be installed in hundreds of parking spaces in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene over the next year, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
• Low-level drug arrests have surged in the South Bronx commercial corridor known as The Hub, according to the latest NYPD data.
• Immigrant New Yorkers are forgoing doctors' appointments and avoiding the use of food stamps out of fear of immigration enforcement, according to advocates who testified at a City Council hearing yesterday.
• A 95-year-old woman was charged with murder yesterday after she allegedly beat a fellow Brooklyn nursing home resident to death.
• The family of a man who died at Rikers Island in August is suing the city, alleging he took his own life after corrections officers ignored explicit warnings about his mental health.
• A Manhattan judge yesterday dismissed two state terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, saying prosecutors hadn't presented sufficient evidence. Mangione still faces a second degree murder charge for allegedly killing a healthcare CEO last December.

• More than 4 million people rode the subway every weekday last week, marking a post-pandemic record for the MTA.
• In other transit news, famed dive bar Siberia has reopened inside the Columbus Circle subway station.
• Can Antonio Delgado defeat Kathy Hochul in a Democratic gubernatorial primary by being younger than her?
• Democratic City Council Member James Gennaro, who happens to be a personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has introduced a bill to ban fluoride from the city's tap water.
• New York City private school kids are posting clips of their daily lives on TikTok and fellow teens who don't live here are loving it.
• A decorated Suffolk County cop pleaded guilty this month to co-managing a Long Island brothel.
• Running a steep downhill marathon sounds hard.
• Go ahead, wear a little Disney stuffed animal on your shoulder.