POLITICS: Zohran Mamdani will kick off his mayoralty with at least ONE smart move: tossing Brad Lander

Here’s one Zohran Mamdani move we can cheer: The mayor-elect has apparently kicked Brad Lander to the curb.

Some will see this as ingratitude: After rushing to ally with Mamdani in the Democratic primary, the about-to-be-ex-city comptroller zealously thumped for him these last few months — essentially serving as Team Zohran’s “house Jew,” pulling out all the stops to paint the antisemitic socialist as kosher.

Lander had been notoriously angling for some top administration post, but per CNN he’s “out of the picture,” perhaps because (by some accounts) he’d been bragging about running City Hall if Mamdani won.

That certainly sounds like Lander, who’s a lot better-known for his arrogance and ambition than for anything resembling a principle.

So, while no one will mistake us for Mamdani fans, we’re glad to see the mayor-elect showing some good sense here.

It’d be another matter if Lander got pushed out because the far-lefties feared he might moderate Mamdani, but Lander never met a radical cause he couldn’t embrace.

He’s made a fool of himself with his theatrics — including getting himself arrested — in protest of Team Trump’s totally legal ICE raids.

Most despicably, for all his claims to be a “proud Jew” who supports Israel, he couldn’t even bring himself to unequivocally condemn the Democratic Socialists of America’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rally the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

The rally was “abominable,” he admitted, but he also reiterated his call for “an end to the [Israeli] Occupation.” (Note: No Israeli had been in Gaza since 2005.)

CNN also reports that Mamdani thought Lander wasn’t “particularly effective as comptroller.”

We’d totally agree, albeit likely for opposite reasons.

Whatever the case, Mamdani’s made one smart move.

Too bad that Lander is likely the last lefty he’ll reject.