Edited by: TJVNews.com
Seems like some elected officials just can’t keep their feet on the brakes. According to a New York Post report, Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn) has his proverbial tail between his legs and is over comer by embarrassment over the fact that it has been revealed that he was caught red-handed speeding in school zones eight times in the past five years. What makes things even worse is that Lander has thrown his hat in the ring for the state comptroller job in the upcoming primary in June.
Attempting to do some damage control and thusly, repair his tarnished reputation, Lander admitted that “accountability is hard” in an essay he penned for the Streetsblog NYC web site in which he did not offer an apology for his misdeeds but rather claimed he would adopt a series of habits to improve his motoring, according to the NYP report. Those improvements include giving up a City Council-issued parking placard, which The Post found displayed on the dashboard of his Toyota Prius on Friday morning — even though it says it expired on Feb. 1, 2020.
According to city records, Lander has amassed a total of 118 vehicle and traffic violations since 2013, as was reported by the Post.
In his written admission of accountability that appeared on the Streetsblog NYC web site, Lander said that “it stings” to have the New York Post run an expose about his speeding ventures. “And I feel especially embarrassed to face the great group of street safety advocates who are supporting me for comptroller,” said Lander.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio accused Lander of hypocrisy as the Brooklyn Councilman has been an outspoken advocate of cracking down on reckless drivers, as was reported in the NYP.
“Everyone who says they believe in Vision Zero has to live by it,” de Blasio told the Post in reference to his signature traffic safety initiative, in response to the newspaper’s question at his daily briefing. “Now, we’re all humans and we’re going to make mistakes sometimes, but that’s too many to chalk up to a single mistake, obviously.”
DeBlasio claimed that he did not understand how Lander could rack up such an extensive record of traffic offenses and speeding violations. Hizzoner said, “I was a City Council member and I never would have parked in front of a hydrant or in a bus stop.”
At the end of the year Lander will be term-limited out of office. According to the Post report, he didn’t say if he’d forgo a new placard if he wins election as comptroller.
He wrote in his essay that “every month going forward, I’ll make public how many parking or moving violations I get. Knowing that I’ll have to do it will make me slow down and follow parking rules,” he said.
Lander also appeared on the cable channel NY1’s program known as “Inside City Hall” and he said repeatedly that he should “slow down.”
