[10:25PM EST] Chris Bragg from City Hall News reports:
Nachman Caller, a wealthy real estate attorney who had already spent $40,000 of his own money in the Council race to replace Simcha Felder, has suddenly decided to drop out, Caller confirmed in a phone interview Wednesday night.
Caller declined to say why he was dropping out, but said he would explain his reasoning in a letter Thursday in the newspaper Hamodia.
According to a source, Caller met with a number of rabbinical and yeshiva leaders around the tri-state area over the past few weeks and was told that even if he won the Council race, he would not have their support going forward. According to the source, the Jewish leaders told Caller he did not have enough name recognition or prominence to win funding for the Jewish community at the city, state and federal levels.
Caller is also expected to write in the letter that he is dropping out in order to unite yeshiva leadership. But Caller is not expected to make any endorsement in the race, the source said.
After a final meeting with yeshiva leaders early Wednesday evening, Caller informed his campaign staff that he was dropping out, the source said.
In an interview at around 3.p.m on Wednesday, Caller had insisted several times that he was staying in the race, when asked about rumors that he might drop out.
“I’m definitely running, I’m definitely running,” he said, adding that he planned to spend $80,000 of his own money on the race.
At that time, he expressed disappointment that one of his opponents in the race, Joe Lazar, has so far declined to participate in any debates, throwing into question whether they will actually occur at all. (One is scheduled for later this month.) Caller said he believed that if were allowed to debate the other candidates, he would be able to raise his profile and win over voters.
For the past two weeks, up to a 13 paid campaign staffers have been collecting signatures for Caller, including all day through Wednesday’s blizzard. He had already gathered 1,800 signatures, he said, making it likely that he would have had the 900 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
Caller, who lives in Boro Park, likely would have siphoned off more votes from Lazar than from David Greenfield, who is seen as the strongest candidate in other parts of the district. Lazar has gotten the lion’s share of the endorsements in Boro Park so far.
Jonathan Judge, a Republican, remains the only other Boro Park candidate in the race.
Greenfield, meanwhile, also got some good news on Wednesday, winning the endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
(Source: http://www.cityhallnews.com/)
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17 Responses
This must be a disappointment to Greenfield. I think Joe Lazar is about to secure a victory.
just wait until everyone finds out that he dropped out cuz he was threatened by ”various inividuals”
hamayvin yavin
my vote is now back to david greenfield
How does his dropping out unite yeshiva leadership?
Geshmockster, I think so too. Something smells fishy tho, why is Caller dropping out? I guess we’ll find out in the daily tomorrow. I wonder if Bloomberg’s endorsement to Greenfield is detrimental to his campaign.
I see Hikind’s fingerprints all over this…
What a shame!
He is too much of an ehrlich person to be in politics. He was going to do it for the benefit of the community, not to make himself popular.
May he and his family continue walking the road they are.
B”H he saw the reality of politics and pulled away!
I guess we won’t be voting for anyone running for this position.
I’m not surprised. The way Lazar has been attacking Greenfield, I’m sure Caller realized that he would be next. Why would anyone want to subject themselves to the daily attacks by the Hikind machine? Disgusting is what this is.
This is not such breaking news to me since he was never serious to begin with, he decided to take a gamble and test the market when he saw that he’s waisting his time he dropped out.
Caller is most qualified for a position in politics. His business ethics remind me of Dwek. Good riddance Caller.
This is not such breaking news to me since he was never serious to begin with, he decided to take a gamble and test the market when he saw that he’s waisting his time he dropped out.
I saw this coming as soon as I saw a email that he sent to an close fiend of mind involved in the politics.
Caller is most qualified for a position in politics. His business ethics leave much to be desired. Good riddance Caller.
This is a big surprise. I saw so many of Caller’s people in Boro Park working on his behalf (I think they were collecting signatures). Caller is well-known in Boro Park had a real shot at winning. It’s too bad that he was forced from the race by the “machers” who think they run Boro Park.
dear moderator why post #9 it sounds like loshon hara or someone with a personal grudge?
this the direct rasult of mr sperlin friend of mr hikind meeting with mr heintz
this is all the more reason why Hikind needs to go and a Greenfield victory will be the first step in removing Dov from his little thrown and his fiefdom in Boro Park, Caller should have been allowed to do what he wants, Hikind is threatening again
Great news, i guess that leads the way for Joe to become the next council member…
“Greenfield, meanwhile, also got some good news on Wednesday, winning the endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.” Great news for Greenfield & for all of us, this just shows that Bloomy is convinced that Greenfield will bow to him just like his predecessor, but gloomy bloomy knows that Lazar will not deal with his garbage that’s why he didn’t endorse him. guess the truth is coming out sooner than later.
#13 – Ones inner fabric becomes known thru monetary interaction.