New York City’s far-left outgoing Comptroller Brad Lander wants three of the city’s top pension funds to cut ties with BlackRock over allegations that the world’s largest money manager is not doing enough to fight climate change.
The pol, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor this year, blasted the Larry Fink-led firm on Wednesday for allegedly buckling to pressure from the White House and Republicans and U-turning on green investments.
“Climate risk is financial risk. You can see it all around you in an increased number of flash floods and wildfires,” Lander, whose term ends Dec. 31, told Bloomberg.
The left-winger — who recently admitted he’s mulling a congressional run — accused BlackRock of scaling back “climate engagement in ways that put our investments at risk needlessly.”
Lander urged the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System to shift their investments to rivals with a “more robust approach” to combating global warming.
BlackRock Managing Director Armando Senra slammed the comptroller’s remarks as “another instance of the politicization of public pension funds, which undermines the retirement security of hardworking New Yorkers,” according to a letter posted on the firm’s website.
The Post has sought comment from BlackRock.
Lander also wants some of the funds to cut ties with Fidelity Investments and PanAgora Asset Management, claiming that they, too, are not doing enough to help the environment.
Neither has publicly commented.
Lander cannot actually force the pension funds to take his suggestions — trustees of each one make the final decision.
Socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his appointees will get some say over the Big Apple’s $300 billion pension system, Bloomberg noted.
After losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, Lander became a strong backer of the capitalism-hating mayor-elect, who takes office Jan. 1.
BlackRock oversees some $42.3 billion in city worker retirement funds.
Its assets under management worldwide hit a company record $13.46 trillion on Sept. 30, boosted by a rally in global markets and dealmaking income.
The money manager, like many other Wall Street firms during the Biden administration, was a lightning rod for GOP lawmakers over its stance on DEI programs and Environmental Social Governance investing, known by its acronym ESG.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, under President Trump-picked chair Paul Atkins, backed off on enforcing Biden-era ESG disclosure rules as part of a White House-led crackdown on ‘woke’ capitalism
At the start of the year, just before Trump took office for a second time, BlackRock withdrew from a United Nations-backed Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative that aimed to pressure major corporations to reduce their carbon footprint.
Then in June, the company was removed from Texas’ investment “blacklist” after it scaled back its climate commitments.
Lander will be succeeded by current Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who also endorsed Mamdani.
Levine’s role will be to act as an independent spending watchdog and ensure New Yorkers get the most bang for their buck while Mamdani pursues his aggressive socialist agenda, which includes rent freezes, free public buses, expanded free childcare and more.
Levine did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Landers’ BlackRock stance.
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