Video: David Greenfield Wins Hotly Contested NYC Council Election

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david-greenfield[Update below. Video of victory speech below.] 10:03 p.m. EST: One of the most heated New York City Council races in recent memory came to a close this evening as David Greenfield was victorious over Joe Lazar and Kenneth Rice in the 44th Council District Special Election to replace Councilman Simcha Felder.

The campaigning took on an added intensity in recent weeks after candidates Nachman Caller, Jonathan Judge and Avrohom Shlomo Tischler dropped out, pitting Lazar and Greenfield against each other. Caller, Judge and Tischler all subsequently endorsed Lazar, but it was not enough.

The 44th Council District covers Boro Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst.

The race featured several out-of the ordinary occurrences, including a decision on March 9th by the Supreme Court to deny Mr. Judge a spot on the ballot stating that Mr. Judge, a Republican, had 15 signatures below the number required to stay on the ballot. Mr. Judge subsequently said that a political machine had “done everything in their power to eliminate the voters’ choices in this election.” State Supreme Court Judge Larry Martin ruled that Judge only had 750 valid signatures on his petitions, 15 short of the needed 765.The decision came about two weeks after the city’s Board of Elections (BOE) ruled that Judge had 786 valid signatures of his 1,221 signatures total collected.

18-year-old Tischler was also bounced from the ballot when the city Board of Elections determined that several hundred of his signatures were invalid. Tischler submitted 1,408 signatures, with 765 needed from eligible voters in the district to get on the ballot.

Greenfield and Lazar vied for the endorsements of local mosdos community leaders, and politicians. Thousands of posters were hung across the community, ads were taken out in newspapers, and promotional videos were released.

Lazar, who picked up the endorsement of Comptroller John Liu, had the strong backing of Assemblyman Dov Hikind, and gained support and endorsements in the Boro Park end of the district, the largest voting block, but Greenfield prevailed with a well-orchestrated campaign.

The race included a nearly three-hour debate at the Boro Park Y in front of a crowd of over 400 neighborhood residents. Greenfield presented himself as an experienced policy person, whose coalition organization TEACH NYS successfully led to a $330 tax check for parents of yeshiva and other private schools. Lazar presented himself as the most experienced candidate in government and especially experienced with budget issues, working with both the city’s Department of Buildings and the state Department of Mental Health.

Greenfield, an attorney and community advocate, picked up endorsements from Senator Joseph Lieberman, for whom Greenfield worked as Deputy Finance Director during Lieberman’s 2004 Presidential campaign. Greenfield also received the endorsements of a number of other prominent elected officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

Updated, 10:32 EST: David Greenfield received 7,070 votes, or 57.83%, Joe Lazar received 4,842 votes, or 39.61%, and Kenneth Rice received 313 votes, or 2.56%, with all 119 precincts reporting.

“The results are surprising,” a political analyst told Matzav.com a short while ago. “It shows that voters overlooked the heavy and aggresive campaigning of Lazar and went with the accomplishments and persona of Greenfield, who won by what we would consider a significant margin.”

Updated, 11:31 p.m. EST: Click below for a video of David Greenfield’s victory speech:

[media id=635 width=400 height=300]

{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


41 COMMENTS

  1. I am disappointed that the hard work of my Lazar supporters was snuffed out by Vito Lopez and his protégée David Greenfield through their manipulation of the courts and Board of Elections

  2. I voted for Joe Lazar. R Yosef was the true candidate of achdus. I am devastated by the loss. Umacha Hashem dimah meial kol ponim. May we know no further tzaar.

  3. j am glad this election is over and we can get our minds back to whats really important,deciding which concert to go to on chol hamoed

  4. David cares. I did not know abot any of the candidates. I read all the interviews with Nesanel Gantz of Hachaim Magazine. Amongst the 4 running at the time. I felt David spoke more of the issues and was one of us. Hatzlochoh

  5. Well well! I guess Dov Hikind does NOT lord over us anymore! Good luck David. Please continue to be pro “Sanctity of Marriage”. Stand up and fight for Kvod Shomayim!

  6. Mazel Tov Duvid you are the only one that can bring change its about time we get rid of all the old baggage and bring in new and young blood. lets start here and move on through all the politicions. WE NEED CHANGE!!!!!!!!!

  7. Ver nice. The [deleted by moderator] won tonight, along with the Bishop of Brooklyn, Tammany Hall, Vito Lopez, and all of the liberal Puerto Ricans and Blacks. He did a good job of selling his soul and strong-arming anyone who got in his way by manipulating the courts. Yidden, mazel tov. You have as much yashrus as Madoff.

  8. I voted for david he’s the closest to a regular young yeshiva guy your gonna get I have no doubt he’ll follow das torah and the fact he doesn’t own a home tells me he will push for affordable housing mazal tov dovid may hashem be with you

  9. Glad to have been part of this revolution in Boro Park. A lesson to politicians all over the country – threats and intimitations don’t work! We’ve seen it in Jersey when Corzine was ousted, we witnessed it again in Massachusetts when Scott Brown crushed, and now we proved it once again in Boro Park.

    And to the Lazar staffer that harassed me today at a polling site: No, I’m not disappointed! I’m proud! People in BP aren’t stupid and it isn’t an election for dummies. Close to twenty percent is a number, and know for next time – chastising others won’t help! David won because of integrity and honesty and only that prevails!

  10. Working closely w/ Joe on the election was a honor & i would do it all over again. At the same time I salute David for the come from behind victory no matter what tactics he used. Joe to me is the true example of a mentch that is too good for the political cesspool.

  11. I despise how closely religion is turned into little more than political infighting and a race for Democrat votes and welfare benefits.

  12. Mazel tov for dovid and buruch Hashem dov hikinds man lost maybe now dov hikind will make a cheshbin hanefesh and realise hes not wanted here and maybe he could then conclude that he has a better ability to fix his image if he goes to eretz yisroel protecting the yoitsei gush katif

  13. thank u for the support of our democratic couty leader assemblyman hon vito lopez. your endorcment & help made this happen .

  14. now watch this Mr greenfeld get even with all the mosdos of boro park who didnt support him! then again the seats up fior grabs in a year again……. so is Obama’s in 3 I guess there is hope for change after all!

  15. We “the voters” (not the special interest groups) were sick and tired of seeing our votes serving [deleted by moderator]. We the voters were sickened by the amount of “terror and threats” people got from the terror team for endorsing a candidate they felt would be good for the klal. we were sickened to watch the terror group ripping positive message posters being ripped off the walls to with hold important information from us.
    DAVID ….. Go take on the job and get it done

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