Breakdown of Election Results

I’m generally pleased with the results of the election this year, although I think that this election shows us a good sense of where our community’s values (or lack thereof) stands.

a) Ken Thompson: Charles Hynes was a johnny-come-lately Democrat-turned-Republican. He was a darling of the Democratic Party for many years, and was in the back pocket of the Haredi establishment for that time, as well, hence his support for pedophiles. Thompson will go after pedophiles and protect our children. He is also an advocate of restorative justice, which is a more holistic approach to fighting crime than a purely punitive system. And, I’d also argue that restorative justice is more in line with Judaism’s conception of teshuva than our currently broken criminal justice system, which is often lacking in justice. I am pleased that a pro-pedophile candidate, who ran racist ads in the Yiddish press, will not be our DA any longer, after a 22 year tenure.

b) Ed Day: The new Rockland County Executive is not tied to the Haredi establishment, and promises to usher in a new era of change in a county where many areas (sadly, Jewish ones) are corrupt and decrepit. Also, Ed Day was the unfair target of attacks by Jews in Rockland, which is sad, considering that Ed Day continues to be a long-time friend of the community, has supported Israel, and has many Jewish friends and associates, not to mention, many Jews are in his own family. If I lived in Rockland, I’d 100% support the efforts of “Preserve Ramapo.” Destroying communities, stealing, lying, and cheating in the name of G-d is the ultimate shonda and chillul hashem, and I am glad the county elected someone who will promote a quality standard of living for all people.

c) Bill deBlasio: Joe Lhota, himself a halakhic Jew (albeit a practicing Catholic) didn’t have the money to run a campaign, quite frankly. His social positions weren’t exactly optimal, but he lacked the ties to the Sandinista regime that Bill deBlasio has. deBlasio’s wife is a self-proclaimed lesbian (not that their personal affairs are any of our business, but this shows a lack of personal morality on their part, as this makes their marriage one of political opportunism, like Clinton and Weiner, rather than a normal relationship). I fear for safety, honestly, in NYC. Crime will likely skyrocket, and our police commissioner will probably be a chief social worker, rather than someone with substantial experience in safety and security. NYC needs much tefillah, sadly. The fact that Orthodox Jews would support someone like deBlasio indicates that our community is full of sell-outs and spineless, gutless people desperate for government handouts. A certain word beginning with “p” comes to mind, as well.

d) David Storobin vs. Chaim Deutsch: Deutsch founded the Shomrim organization, a group whose tactics, honestly, can constitute vigilantism (the Zimmerman case should have been sufficient enough to make the ill-effects of “community watch” groups known to the country). Deutsch personally opposes the coverup of pedophiles (I’ve spoken with him personally), although I doubt his actions as a legislator will reflect this. This race shows that the Orthodox bloc is stronger at mobilizing votes than the Russian community, who endorsed Storobin. If I lived in this district, I would have voted for Storobin; Storobin is a self-made man, an attorney. Also, Storobin is not particularly Orthodox. Visibly Orthodox politicians promote anti-semitism and can cause negative feelings towards Jews like us who are visibly religious; if Deutsch does something corrupt or illegal, that will constitute a major chillul hashem, and will make life bad for us. Storobin was also a good state senator; Deutsch, while a mentsch, was never in politics, and I don’t believe he has the adequate experience to be a legislator. He has good safety experience and would have made a good detective or police official, but Storobin’s credentials are stronger: college-educated, an attorney, a former state senator, and entrepreneur. Storobin has done a lot to help alleviate the tuition crisis, which is the number one issue facing Orthodox families. Deutsch had a sound majority of the vote, and I sadly think bias was at play here: people in the frum world probably voted with the understanding that we need “one of us”, rather than someone with experience and education. Despite this pandering to ethnic politics and mudslinging, I wish Deutsch well.

e)David Greenfield vs. Joseph Hayon: The incumbent had a landslide victory over Joseph Hayon. I worked in a polling place that included the 48th, 44th, 43rd, and 47th districts, and my experience was that most Americans, Italians, and some Yidden voted for Hayon, whereas Greenfield had the support of the strong Chinese Democratic bloc, and most Haredim. Hayon’s mistake was lying about non-existent endorsements, a lack of money, and a lack of incumbency. Joseph Hayon, nonetheless, is a fine mentsch, and a true ben torah. I’ve met him personally and know him quite well. He’s a good man, a family man, and someone who has overcome poverty and the horror of losing both parents to the yeneh machla by attending community college and working hard as a bookkeeper and secular studies teacher in a yeshiva (we’ve shared many of the same experiences). He has a lot to offer his party, and frankly, I’ve told him that if he left NYC and moved to a frum community in a place like Dallas or Miami or whatnot, he’d have more of an impact ion politics, since NYC is Blue territory. Greenfield’s power and influence, as far as securing handouts and pork, is unmatchable by the young, pious, idealistic conservative that is Joe Hayon. Greenfield campaign literature says that “nobody works harder for us.” I don’t see how that is necessarily a true statement.

f) Vinny Gentile: My shul is in his district, and he has been superb in helping us get funding after Sandy, which decimated our shul and resulted in $60K in damage (our sifrei torah were unharmed, Baruch HaShem). He has made himself available to me, our rabbi, and the Board, and is a mentsch with experience and a love for the Jewish community. However, his opponent, John Quaglione, had a pragmatic platform with specific policy recommendations and changes recommended by the public. Quaglione is also a family man and someone active in his parish and the Knights of Columbus. He also was very interested in allocating funds to Jewish institutions in the district, and is another good guy, but I am pleased that Gentile won, who is a true ohev yisrael, in spite of his Italian last name 🙂