Dov Hikind's Candidate Trounced In NYC City Council Election

David Greenfield 58%, Joe Lazar 40%.

Easy Victory After Intense City Council Race
By KAREEM FAHIM • New York Times

David G. Greenfield, the executive director of the Sephardic Community Federation, was elected Tuesday to succeed City Councilman Simcha Felder of Brooklyn in a seat that represents the Orthodox Jewish strongholds of Borough Park and Midwood and the ethnically mixed neighborhood of Bensonhurst.

Mr. Greenfield, 31, won the special election by a surprisingly wide margin, defeating Joseph Lazar, a former Buildings Department official, after an intense and often acrimonious campaign that drew the involvement of some of the state’s biggest political names. Mr. Greenfield won 58 percent of the vote, while Mr. Lazar garnered 40 percent, according to unofficial results. Kenneth Rice, a Police Department lawyer, finished third.

Speaking at a community center on Ocean Parkway on Tuesday night, Mr. Greenfield said that he had won every neighborhood in the district, a victory that he said sent a message throughout Brooklyn. “They’re hearing the sounds of people coming together instead of being pushed apart,” he said. “This seat does not belong to political power brokers.”

Mr. Felder, who held the seat in the 44th Council District for eight years, left office in late January to work for City Comptroller John C. Liu. The candidates ran to fill the Council seat until regularly scheduled elections in the fall.

The nearly two-month-long contest featured well-known neighborhood figures and scrappy newcomers, and it was marked by accusations of dirty tricks and the participation of political heavyweights.

Mr. Lazar and Mr. Greenfield accused each other of being puppets of other politicians. Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, the Brooklyn Democratic chairman, backed Mr. Greenfield, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind vigorously campaigned for Mr. Lazar.

The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, was also said to have been working informally on Mr. Lazar’s behalf, though the speaker’s spokesman allowed only that the two men were friends.

The biggest prize was the district’s large bloc of Orthodox Jewish voters. Mr. Greenfield, a lawyer and education advocate who worked as a staff member for the presidential campaign of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, portrayed himself as something of an underdog. While Mr. Lazar had the backing of some of the more established Hasidic organizations, Mr. Greenfield said he was supported by younger Jewish voters. He also courted the district’s other groups, including Italians and Asians in Bensonhurst and Pakistanis in Midwood.

Both men worked to eliminate young upstarts before the votes were counted. Abraham Tischler, an 18-year-old college sophomore, was forced out several weeks ago after Mr. Greenfield and Mr. Lazar challenged his petitions. So was Jonathan J. Judge, a 24-year-old graduate student who had campaigned vigorously in Bensonhurst.

Other politicians were drawn into the battle, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who backed Mr. Greenfield. Mr. Liu and Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, endorsed Mr. Lazar.

At the community center, one of Mr. Greenfield’s supporters, Sal Cali, 46, said: “Brooklyn is multicultural. Greenfield is the one candidate that was working with all of the groups.”

Karen Zraick contributed reporting.

Joe Lazar is a Rubashkin supporter who has echoed some of the worst rhetoric of the Rubashkin camp, while David Greenfield is said to be close to Vito Lopez, an arch foe of legal remedies to help stop rabbis and priests from raping children.

All in all, bad choices all around.

Comments

[harold]

Best of luck to Mr Greenfield.

[Mr. Apikorus]

There's a rabbi in Arizona who's accused of molesting a 7-year-old girl 10 years ago. Yet there's no word of this on this blog. I can only surmise because that particular rabbi is a Conservative rabbi.

[The Real Joe]

The real winner is the 18 year old Tischler he made a name for himself, got to meet and make connections with all of the big players from both sides and was one of the only people on Lazer team to produce bringing more then 600 votes on his own, very smart and brave what he did jumping in the race, fighting his being kicked out and then supporting the candidate who did NOT go to court to throw him off, Lazar lost but its not him who lost its Hikand who is now down to his last chance doing well this September and November he losses races then and he's heading for retirement, I don't live in this district but I only hope for the sack of kiddush Hashem that everyone moves forward because thats the only choice.