Lefty NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander who wanted to defund the police vows to keep NYPD commish as he unveils public safety platform

Lefty city comptroller and mayoral hopeful Brad Lander — who once pushed a $1 billion “defund the police” cut to the NYPD — is changing his tune on fighting crime.Lander unveiled a public safety “blueprint” Tuesday that promises, if elected, to recruit and retain more cops, crack down on gun violence and keep Jessica Tisch as the NYPD’s commissioner.The plan’s willingness to throw more cops at crime contrasts with Lander’s long history of pushing progressive police reforms, a shift that he acknowledged.“I think progressives, myself included, were slow to respond to the elevation of crime and disorder that came through and out of the pandemic and that has given us many of the challenges that we’re dealing with today in all these areas, in gun violence and mental health and homelessness, in retail theft and hate violence,” he said during a news conference detailing his public safety pitch.“So, this is a strategy to confront the issues that I hear from New Yorkers in all five boroughs every single day, and that’s what I’m running for mayor to do.”As Lander pursued his campaign for mayor, the Brooklyn Democrat — who previously held Bill de Blasio’s seat on the City Council repping Park Slope — has shed or moderated many of his past positions.He has also been a persistent critic and thorn in Mayor Eric Adams’ side, charging Tuesday that Hizzoner “allowed cronyism and corruption at the highest ranks to weaken the NYPD.”But even as Lander lambasted Adams for police department woes, rising crime and what he said were repeated funding cuts to “critical city programs that keep our neighborhoods stable,” he did implicitly give him credit for hiring Tisch — who’s the fourth top cop during the mayor’s first term.Tisch, who was sworn in in November, showed her ability to get results during her past stints with the NYPD and as sanitation commissioner, Lander said.“That’s why I am not at all surprised that in the three month...