Greenfield Opposes Creation of “Super-Jewish” District

A reader points out an interesting few paragraphs in a Hamodia article today concering the Senate Republicans’ proposed creation of the so-called “Super Jewish” district. It seems that while most Jewish leaders are on board, influential Orthodox Councilman David Greenfield is not.

Here’s the relevant graphs from Hamodia, the well-read Orthodox daily.

Reflecting an opposing view, Mr. Greenfield told Hamodia that he will argue this morning that the current map diminishes the community’s power.

“Six is too many but one is too little,” Mr. Greenfield said. “I will argue tomorrow that we should have three, or at the very least, two, not one. One is definitely too little.”

As the fastest-growing community in the state, Mr. Greenfield said, the Jewish community is bottling up its power.

“All you are going to do is to go from 80 percent [of the district] to 90 percent,” Mr. Greenfield said. “How does that increase our power? The answer is it doesn’t. What we need is approximately 25 to 35 percent, which would mean, solidly, two or three districts.”

…

“Mr. Greenfield suggested giving Boro Park to Sen. Marty Golden, a ranking Republican, and Flatbush to Sen. John Sampson, the Democratic leader.

“To put all your eggs in one basket is really very risky,” he said. “I am optimistic that the governor is going to keep his word and veto these lines.”

Greenfield has not yet taken sides in the Senate special election for State Sen. Carl Kruger’s seat, but his top political advisor, Kalman Yeger, is serving as Lew Fidler’s campaign manager — and Greenfield will likely ultimately back Fidler.

How Greenfield’s proposed Senate districts would play into Fidler’s political future plans remains unclear. Fidler has said he would run in the new “Super Jewish” district if it’s created.

It’s not surprising that Greenfield would come out on the opposite side of both Assemblyman Dov Hikind and leadership of Agudath Israel, who both support the creation of the new Super-Jewish district. Both also staunchly supported Greenfield’s opponent, Joe Lazar, during Greenfield’s 2010 Council special election.