Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind is, reportedly, going to endorse former City comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor of New York City. Mr. Hikind is on a visit to Israel and is expected to make the announcement as early as next Tuesday, according to photojournalist Shimon Gifter.
This would not be the first time Mr. Hikind would be betting on Mr. Thompson. In 2009, Mr. Hikind endorsed Mr. Thompson as his choice for mayor over mayor Bloomberg and has never regretted doing so. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who emerged as the Frontrunner in the race for mayor, was hoping to get Mr. Hikind’s endorsement this time around. Relying on their longtime personal relationship and the fact that he served as council member representing parts of Borough Park for eight years, Mr. de Blasio hoped to make it to the runoff by getting the Orthodox community vote. According to insiders who’ve spoken to YWN on the condition of anonymity, Mr. de Blasio’s liaison to the Jewish community, Pinny Ringel, was heavily courting Mr. Hikind and defending him on every platform in order to land this important endorsement in favor of his candidate.
While Mr. Thompson had a one-on-one lengthy interview with Mr. Hikind on his last Saturday night radio show, Mr. de Blasio was given a 12 minute interview on his debut midweek prime time radio show. Coincidentally, Mr. Hikind, who was on the show the entire time via phone from Jerusalem, was dropped at the start of the interview without getting a chance to talk to Mr. de Blasio directly. Instead, his co-host Dov Cohen conducted the interview.
Mr. Thompson spoke about his outreach to the Orthodox Jewish community, at a campaign event yesterday. “It is about the issues that affect the Jewish community but I think it’s also about relationships. I’ve worked in the Jewish community for decades,” he proclaimed. “It is part of who I am.”
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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Although I do admire and respect Mr. Thompson in my heart I will NEVER ever trust another black mayor in New York. After what Dinkins did there is no way I could trust another black mayor to be in charge of the city. I apologize to Mr. Thompson because I believe he is a very respectable and trustworthy person. Perhaps if he were the mayor before Dinkins, people would have different feelings about it.