As Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee, Brad launched economic and jobs programs, including a Red Hook on the Road commercial driving program, Brooklyn Woods, Ecomat—a green dry-cleaning business, and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations. At the Pratt Center for Community Development, Brad led efforts to promote equitable economic development—supporting community-based plans that created jobs, strengthened local businesses, and revitalized underserved neighborhoods. 

As a City Council Member, Brad worked closely with neighborhood artists, workers, and public housing residents as part of the Gowanus rezoning, which resulted in creating light industrial and mixed-use space, including over 100 affordable housing artist studios as well as more than 8,500 housing units. Brad’s extensive workers’ rights track record includes passing “fair work week” legislation ending cruel and erratic scheduling for fast-food and retail workers, giving them advance notice of their schedules, and a pathway to full-time work. His “just cause” legislation ended arbitrary firings in the fast-food industry and provided a model for job stability that New York City can build upon. Brad passed the nation’s first law to guarantee a living wage for Uber, Lyft, and other for-hire drivers, putting more than $500 million in the pockets of drivers rather than Uber and Lyft’s bank accounts–without any disruption to customers or a loss of service. He also introduced and passed the first law in the country requiring minimum pay for deliveristas working for DoorDash, Grubhub, Seamless, Uber Eats, and other food service apps—and fought successfully to preserve the law when lobbyists sought to undercut it at City Hall and quash it in the courts.

 Brad worked with the Freelancers Union to create and pass the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” which gives groundbreaking protections to independent contractors to ensure they are paid on time and in full, and hundreds of freelancers have now recovered millions of dollars they were owed. He also passed a law extending the benefits of New York City’s Human Rights Law to freelancers and independent contractors, ensuring that they are protected from discrimination and harassment in the workplace. 

In the Comptroller’s Office, Brad put a spotlight on the acute issues of hiring and retention in New York City government that emerged in the pandemic. His reports, Title Vacant and Understaffed, Underserved, made recommendations to overcome the challenges agencies faced in filling vacancies and delivering effective services. Brad applied those recommendations to his 800-person staff at the Comptroller’s Office, surveying employees to determine ways to make the office a better place to work, and was an early adopter of a model hybrid work policy.

As Comptroller, Brad has continued to ensure a thriving and inclusive economy. His Bureau of Public Finance has continued New York City’s strong municipal finance practice, generating over $24.4 billion for investments in the city’s streets, sewers, schools, parks, and housing that have created tens of thousands of jobs and public realm improvements in neighborhoods across the city. As Comptroller and investment advisor to the five New York City pension funds, Brad has overseen a wide array of investments delivering strong returns for the city’s $270+ billion portfolio—while consistently leading efforts to ensure that companies with whom New York City invests treat their workers with dignity and respect and allow their workers to join a union without interference. His landmark shareholder proposal at Starbucks required an independent assessment of its labor practices and helped lead to a groundbreaking national agreement between the company and the union representing workers across the country. 

Under Brad’s leadership, the Comptroller’s Bureau of Contract Administration has improved the processing of contracts, registering or returning all of the 60,000+ contracts it has received this term within the 30-day deadline, averaging just 19 days—37% better than its required 30-day deadline and dramatically better than Mayoral agencies charged with similar tasks. His recent spotlights illuminate a path to get nonprofits paid on time and how to prevent procurement corruption. Brad strengthened oversight and transparency of the city’s MWBE program, published annual reports tracking agency performance, and championed state legislation to raise the discretionary spending cap for MWBE contracts, expanding access to city procurement for diverse entrepreneurs.

Brad rebuilt the Bureau of Labor Law and expanded the work the Comptroller’s office does on behalf of workers within New York City and around the world. He established prevailing wage rates for Staten Island Ferry workers, ending a multi-year legal dispute between hundreds of Ferry workers and New York City, leading to over $30 million dollars in backpay for those essential workers. He has also recovered more than $8 million in back wages and civil penalties for New York City’s prevailing wage workers, including construction workers, temp workers, building service workers, and security officers.