Steven Mostofsky, a lawyer who served as president of National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) for 11 years, has announced his candidacy for Civil Court. A lifelong Brooklyn resident, Mostofsky has worked in the New York State court system and has a family law practice in the borough.

“Public service has defined my life,” says Mostofsky, a 54-year-old father and grandfather who was raised in East Flatbush and Canarsie and currently lives in Midwood. “For many years it has been my dream to serve as a judge combining my love for justice and the law, while serving the people of Brooklyn.”

Outside his law practice, Mostofsky regularly counsels families struggling with issues that affect their daily lives. He has lectured about domestic violence to assistant district attorneys and health-care professionals and taught Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses. His articles about Jewish law’s convergence with secular law, teen alcoholism and other legal and general interest have appeared in many publications. Mostofsky was profiled last year in both The New York Law Journal and Daily News about his wide-ranging legal, scholarly and community-based interests. He is a recognized expert in get law who has spoken on the subject at court proceedings.

As longtime president of NCYI, a century-old, worldwide philanthropic organization with more than 25,000 member families, Mostofsky developed programs, sent packages to U.S. troops in Iraq, raised funds to protect communities living under the threat of terrorism and established a scholarship fund for needy yeshiva students in Brooklyn. He held the leadership position until December 2011.

Just this past Monday, May 21, Mostofsky and his wife, Aviva, were honored by Ateret Cohanim and its Executive Director, Shani Hikind, at the organization’s 33rd Annual Yom Yerushalayim Dinner at Terrace on the Park in Queens. The Mostofskys were presented with the Ohev Yisroel Award for their work in helping to rekindle the flame of Jewish life in Jerusalem.

Mostofsky notes that his professional mentors, Family Court Judge Leon Deutsch and Supreme Court Justice Barry Hurowitz, ingrained in him “the moral and social responsibility that comes with the task of meting out justice” and taught him that “it’s the ‘why,’ not just the ‘what,’ that matters.”

“I understand people, I understand the law and I understand how equal justice is essential to our society – especially in these difficult times,” he says.

The election will be on Thursday September 13.

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