The following are excerpts of an article by Chris Bragg of City Hall News:
Assembly Member Dov Hikind, an influential powerbroker in the Jewish Orthodox community of Boro Park, is seeking to use his influence to narrow the field of candidates who are planning to run in the special election to fill Simcha Felders seat.
Hikind said he is trying to dissuade either Joe Lazar, a longtime local government official, or former Council Member Noach Dear, a Brooklyn Civil Court judge, from running because he fears they could split the Boro Park vote, and hand the election to David Greenfield.
“That’s the goal of everybody, to be united [against Greenfield],” Hikind said.
Greenfield has already declared that he will run for Felder’s seat. If multiple Boro Park candidates run against Greenfield, this would give Greenfield a leg up in the special election, Hikind said.
Greenfield served as Hikind’s chief of staff from 2001-2004. But political insiders say Greenfield is more independent of the Boro Park political establishment than other potential candidates in the race and represents a threat to Hikind’s influence.
Hikind declined to comment on the reasons why he opposes Greenfield.
Thursday morning, Hikind is expected hold a meeting with Lazar where the two will discuss whether Lazar will stay in the race, Lazar confirmed.
“I’m meeting with Dov, and I really need to talk with Noach as well to see what’s going on,” said Lazar. “It is my intention to run, but I need to see what’s going on.”
Several political insiders in the neighborhood said they expected Hikind to ask Lazar to drop out of the race.
Dear, meanwhile, is a near-lock to run for the seat whether Hikind wants him to run or not, said several neighborhood insiders. Dear also would likely be a more viable candidate than Lazar, given his two decades of building name recognition as a Council member in the 80’s and 90’s, they said.
Hikind, however, said he had no intention of asking Lazar to step aside at the meeting, and said that his goal is simply to get a single candidate running against Greenfield – whether Lazar or Dear.
Meanwhile, it struck some Greenfield supporters as odd that Hikind would go to such lengths to thwart Greenfield’s political ambitions.
“That’s fascinating,” said Council Member Lew Fidler. “David used to be [Hikind’s] chief-of-staff, so I don’t know what category to put that in.”
Though Greenfield does not have Hikind’s support, he is not lacking for endorsements. He has already privately lined up the support of Kings County Democratic Party Leader Vito Lopez, State Sens. Carl Kruger and Marty Golden and Council Members Domenic Recchia, a source close to the Greenfield campaign said.
Greenfield said that he was not concerned about who would be running against him and that he is planning on making Hikind’s brand of old-school politics a talking point in the campaign.
“This is the exact type of backroom, smoke-filled room politics that I’m running against,” Greenfield said. “This backroom deal-making is not going to select the City Council candidate.”
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19 Responses
I’m not voting for Dear no matter what.
1. He’s already elected to a semi-permanent position.
2. I had issues with the way a served the community when he had the seat.
3. He’s spend way to much “community money” on campaigns over the past 10 years.
The others, I’ll wait and see their campaigns
It’s not the first time Hikind “stabbed in the back” a close associate. Hikind also screwed Felder, and Hikind recently screwed Dear (in the state senate race). Hikind did not support the canditates that helped the community in the past election.
Hikind has run uncontested for the past 25 years, if there one seat that need a fresh face, it’s his assembly seat. If Greenfield loses in his race for city council, I say he should run against Hikind. With a good campaign, he’d win hands down, because people are sick of him. One more thing, the state level would be a much effective position for Greenfield to fight for what his platform is, tuition help for private schools.
Dov Hikind is a seasoned politician. As such he will obviously practice politics. That’s what politicians do. As such he has an agenda. Politicians don’t stab anybody in the back. They practice “Politics”. Hikind obviously has an axe to grind against Greenfield since he has exhibited a streak of independence, a trait that Hikind just does not appreciate. Look what he did to Simcha Felder who served him tirelessly and with integrity. And Hikind’s axe against Dear is well known. Truth is that no matter what kind of criticism anybody can come up with against Noach Dear, he served his constituency well. The criticism of spending money comes from those who are jealous of Dear’s ability to raise campaign funds so well.
One has to wonder why Hikind thinks it is ok to turn on every one of his former chiefs of staff? Is it that Mr Hikind is threatened by people that once were subordinates? I always find it ironic how someone who thinks of himself as such a community activist would support candidates with positions antithetical to the Community over former friends and associates, I hope whoever the new CM is they run a good office and continue the work that Simcha started, ( That and stop the ticket blitz)
“The criticism of spending money comes from those who are jealous of Dear’s ability to raise campaign funds so well.”
The criticism comes from non-political community Rabbonim, who told him the same, after numerous failed campaigns.
http://www.gothamgazette.com/graphics/district/council/maps/044.gif
Simcha Felder’s district.
Everyone has been making it out to be that Felder represents Boro Park, and that’s all that counts. The Sephardic Community owes a lot to David Greenfield for his work in the Sephardic Community Association…
If Joe Lazar runs, he needs to be elected. He is the Yoda to David’s Obi Wan. Greenfield can garner MANY votes in the southeast portion of the 44th. David has a one-track agenda, and I would be worried about how his agenda will neglect the Boro Park half of the district.
#3- Isn’t it possible that Mr. Hikind simply knows former subordinates quite well, certainly better than the rest of us? Can’t this be a case of imperfections blurred from afar?
TO DOV HIKIND: I have lost all respect for you.
Does anyone decide if YOU should run or not?
Who exactly do you think you are? You are an out of control politician, who mark my works, WILL be killed in the next election.
I always liked Joe Lazar and Noach Dear, but since I see how you are sticking your filthy nose into this I will be voting for David Greenfield.
I would also like to make a donation to Greenfield. If anyone knows how to donate online, please post in the comments.
David Greenfield has proven himself to be a true askan and osek bitzarchei tzibur. Dear is a man with a lifetime job, that we the community gave him by voting for him.
If Dear runs for council, I will personally campaign for Greenfield.
lazar will be defeated in any election against greenfield.
dear will just fizzle away.
neither can win a debate against greenfrield
WE NEED A DAVID GREENFIELD RADIO SHOW RIGHT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Dov Hikind.
Get a life, and do your job, and stay out of things which are not your business.
Does anyone else not see this?
its a no brainer.
greenfield won it hands down.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=41092
noach dear is the man
hikind is very busy now.
please.
either its deciding who should run for an office not his business, or hes planiting olive trees in the west bank.
get a life. for real.
were sick and tired of the phony balony nonsense.
and fyi, hikind hated simcha felder too even though he worfked for him for many years. in fact, hikind endorsed a sick ferd for senate over simcha felder which made simcha lose. hikind is a corrupt immoral individual who will stop at nothing. hes ruthless.
he endorsed kevin parker over felder.
know who parker is?
yeah, the guy who assualted a few people and is facing charges.
To the Hon. Dov Hikind LOY”T:
BiMechilas Kvodchem. Wearing a Kippah is commendable. However, it obligates one to adhere to a higher standard of conduct — especially Ahavas Yisrael and absolutely NO Sinas Chinam — so as not to cause a Chilul HASHEM, Rachmana Litzlan.
Respectfully,
I think Hikind’s old teaching job at Toras Emes is still available for him.
And #4 -mms601- just who are the non-political community Rabbonim that you claim told Dear to stay out of politics?
Blagoyavich (Illinois governor) 2009 anyone?
Why all the negativity on Hikind who’s office are you calling when in need. He has a very helpfull staff.
NYJ