Many Boro Parkers Cited as Among, City & State’s “Brooklyn’s Power 100”

By Yehudit Garmaise

Many movers and shakers of Boro Park were included in City & State’s annual “Brooklyn Power 100,” which lists the borough's most politically powerful figures: elected officials, business executives, nonprofit leaders, activists, and advocates. 

In Brooklyn, which City & State called “a bastion of political clout,” Boro Park’s own state Sen. Simcha Felder, was cited for serving as the NY Senate’s most conservative lawmaker who legislates for the values of the Orthodox Jewish community.

Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein was listed as a politician who “represents an influential constituency as the state Legislature’s first Hasidic member.”

In the City Council, City & State mentioned Councilman Kalman Yeger, as, “a second-term incumbent who’s to the right of most of his fellow Democrats,” who was “assigned to chair the Standards and Ethics Committee, a potentially pivotal role as the committee can recommend whether members should be punished or expelled.” 

Met Council CEO and Executive Director David Greenfield was cited for his organization’s work to create a food pantry in a 22,000-square-foot warehouse in Boro Park. 

The warehouse employs eight full-time staffers and serves 600 clients a week, said City & State, adding that Greenfield who also secures more funding for Holocaust survivors, advocated for the Jewish community during the state’s redistricting process, and worked with Brooklyn’s District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who was also cited in the list.

 Kenneth Gibbs, the President and CEO of Maimonides Medical Center was honored for hiring 130 nurses to the hospital’s maternity unit and for seeking to “strengthen hospital operations by rebranding and launching its new network, Maimonides Health, in March after its merger with New York Community Hospital.”

Rabbi Moishe David Niederman was cited for his leadership in fighting rising anti-Semitism and funding emergency food programs.

City Councilmember Inna Vernikov, a Ukrainian-born Republican, was also cited for work to revoke funds from the CUNY School of Law, which supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, movement against Israel.