Simcha Felder is a member of the New York City Council from Brooklyn. A Democrat, he represents the 44th Council District, which encompasses parts of Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst. He entered office 01/01/2002, and his current (second) term of office ends 12/31/2009. One of the Council's 2 Orthodox Jews, Felder has gained popularity among his conservative Jewish constituents for advocating strongly on their behalf, including in matters relating to Israel.

PropertyValue
dbpprop:abstract
  • Simcha Felder is a member of the New York City Council from Brooklyn. A Democrat, he represents the 44th Council District, which encompasses parts of Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst. He entered office 01/01/2002, and his current (second) term of office ends 12/31/2009. One of the Council's 2 Orthodox Jews, Felder has gained popularity among his conservative Jewish constituents for advocating strongly on their behalf, including in matters relating to Israel. Although personally opposed to homosexuality as being against Judaism, he backed Christine Quinn for City Council Speaker in what was seen as a political move to gain allies. Although Felder claims to support Quinn, he says he cannot actually vote for her because of religious reasons. When the time came to vote Quinn for Council Speaker, Felder did not cast any vote and instead took a trip to the restroom. Felder opposes same-sex marriage and voted against a bill in the New York City Council protecting transgender people from discrimination. He has also backed city funding for Catholic and Jewish schools, while maintaining that he is against displays of religion in public schools. Felder has also gained attention by calling for better labeling of caffeine content in foods and beverages, as well as a ban on the distribution of unsolicited fliers. Felder called for a pigeon feeding ban in New York City in November, 2007. Felder is Chair of the Council's Committee on Governmental Operations, a position that he has held since January 2006. As Chair of the committee, Felder has supported Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to curb Pay to Play contracting practices. Most notably, the committee has provided oversight of the City Board of Elections' implementation of the Help America Vote Act. As a member of the Council's Land Use Committee, Felder is part of a group of New York state legislators that has consistently blocked plans to renovate United Nations headquarters, calling the UN anti-American and anti-Israel. In spite of such calls, the UN recently announced that it will undergo a $1 billion makeover. In 2005, Felder (a Democrat) raised eyebrows when he crossed party lines to endorse then Republican Mike Bloomberg in his bid for reelection as New York City mayor. Felder again caught attention in 2008, when he announced his Democratic presidential primary election vote for Senator Barack Obama "in protest" for what he felt was bad behavior by the campaign of New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, although Felder did not explain or elaborate what specific behavior to which he referred. Prior to becoming a City Council member, Felder was chief of staff to New York State Assembly member Dov Hikind. New York City term limits prevent Felder from seeking another term in the city council and was widely speculated to be mounting a run for the citywide office of comptroller. Instead, Simcha Felder ran for state senate against Kevin Parker in the 21st District. Incumbent Kevin Parker won the race by getting 49% of the vote.
dbpprop:before
dbpprop:hasPhotoCollection
dbpprop:reference
dbpprop:start
  • 2002 (xsd:integer)
dbpprop:title
dbpprop:wikiPageUsesTemplate
rdf:type
rdfs:comment
  • Simcha Felder is a member of the New York City Council from Brooklyn. A Democrat, he represents the 44th Council District, which encompasses parts of Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst. He entered office 01/01/2002, and his current (second) term of office ends 12/31/2009. One of the Council's 2 Orthodox Jews, Felder has gained popularity among his conservative Jewish constituents for advocating strongly on their behalf, including in matters relating to Israel.
rdfs:label
  • Simcha Felder
owl:sameAs
skos:subject
foaf:homepage
foaf:page
is dbpprop:after of
is owl:sameAs of