June 12 (Reuters) - BlackRock ( BLK ) will have a chance to keep

managing New York pension money as City Comptroller Mark Levine

opened a rebidding process widely on Friday despite his

predecessor's call for the city to drop the manager over its

climate record.

In one of his last acts in office, Levine's predecessor Brad

Lander in November recommended major city pension funds drop

BlackRock ( BLK ) and rebid its public equities index mandates.

Lander made the move in response to what he saw as

BlackRock's ( BLK ) retreat on climate concerns, with the asset manager

putting less pressure on portfolio companies as appointees of

U.S. President Donald Trump gained oversight of the finance

industry.

But Levine has been in no hurry to execute Lander's wishes

in his oversight of the pension fund holdings that include some

$127 billion held in public equity investments, $80 billion of

which is in passive index products. BlackRock ( BLK ) and State Street

are large managers of those funds, with BlackRock ( BLK )

managing $62 billion across all public equities for the city.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not spoken about BlackRock ( BLK )

although he too has influence over city pension funds and once

campaigned as a Lander ally. Mamdani's office has not responded

to questions about his intentions.

Bids for the public equity index services were last

solicited in 2017 and have been extended several times since by

pension boards, setting up the new rebidding as a potential big

inflection point for the assets.

"All managers are welcome to bid on this," a spokesperson

for Levine said, when asked if Levine hoped BlackRock ( BLK ) would seek

to continue the work.

"We cannot keep these relationships on autopilot. I look

forward to working with my fellow trustees to ensure we select

the managers that meet our highest standards of performance,"

Levine said in a statement.

A BlackRock ( BLK ) representative and State Street did not

immediately comment.

A number of Republican officials, some from

fossil-fuel-producing states, have withdrawn money from

BlackRock ( BLK ) and other money managers, accusing them of basing

investment decisions on social or environmental issues.

Winning bidders of New York City's pension contracts will

still have to meet the funds' existing climate standards.