It’s Thursday, March 13, and I’m having a conversation with New York State Senator Simcha Felder. It’s also a fast day, Taanis Esther to be exact, so I asked him a question most likely inspired by my own desire for something to eat. At this very moment, what food is the Senator craving the most? “Chocolate babka,” he shared. “Without question. And not only on a fast day; it’s all the time. I don’t need anything else.” It would be fair to say on a fast day there are many things one could want for, even something as grand as to hear the comforting voice of long-gone loved one. Indeed, it happens that Taanis Esther is also the yahrzeit of Harry M. Felder, Simcha’s father.
“Rabbi Harry M. Felder had a congregation for more than 60 years,” Felder shared, “and [with] my mother, may she rest in peace as well, the two of them opened a small synagogue in 1952, which was in the suburb of Boro Park on 18th Ave and 49th St. It was called Congregation Beth Aaron, but it wound up being called Felder’s Shul, almost like an Irish bar, because everybody under the sun felt comfortable there and everybody under the sun felt like they owned the place as well.”
Felder said he learned from his upbringing that Hashem is forgiving and merciful, and that in return man should strive to be the same. “Prayer and Torah study of course [are] important, but I hope that today, on Taanis Esther, on my father’s 16th yahrzeit…I’m hoping that as a result of growing up in my parents’ home that I have tried to be religious in the sense that was most critical to them: how we treat other people. Whether they are Jewish or not. My father, when he walked down the street, said hello to everyone, Jewish or not. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Thinking back over his decades of civil service, Felder admits there wasn’t an ah-ha moment that compelled him to run for public office, but a gradual understanding of what his personal strengths and challenges were, and where he could ultimately make the greatest contribution. He has two brothers. One of them, Rabbi Shmuel Felder, is a rabbinical judge at Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG), in Lakewood, NJ, the largest yeshiva in the United States. His other brother, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Felder, has been studying in a rabbinical seminary (kollel) in Monsey for nearly 50 years. “I have never had the patience to sit for anything,” Felder admitted. “My principals in school would tell you I spent more time in their office than in class for that reason. But as I grew up and as time went on…I felt I had to learn a livelihood. So for me this was a way I would be able to help people the most. Maybe I’m not helping them with their religious responsibilities, but at least I’m helping make sure they have heat in their apartment and they have food.”
Simcha’s father would go once a week and learn with a man who was in a coma. This went on for a long time and at some point the man passed away. Afterward, his wife asked Simcha’s father why anyone would spend time coming to visit and study with him. Felder said his father told her, “I did that for you, not for him. So that you would see that he was being treated the same way as he was before he was in a coma.”
“I wish I was on my father’s level of kindness, but that is what I’m trying to accomplish, and the people in my office are there to help, and it’s an honor to be working with a group of people who [are about kindness and going above and beyond]. We are all human beings in the image of G-d, and we want you to feel there is somebody here to try to help you.”
We spoke to Felder about his political outlook, including his decision to pursue a return from the statehouse to the City Council:
The Jewish Press: You represented Brooklyn’s 44th district in New York City Council from 2002 to 2010. In 2013, you became Senator for Brooklyn’s 22nd district where you currently serve. You are now running for [the same City Council seat], which is being vacated by Councilmember Kalman Yeger who was elected in 2024 to the State Assembly. What is compelling you to return to City Council?
Senator Felder: After 12 years of being in Albany, I would say that our office has tried to do whatever we can, in terms of legislation, over issues that affect the entire state, and we accomplished a lot – like helping children with special needs, and landmark legislation to get door-to-door bus service for yeshiva kids, something that never existed and parents don’t have to pay a penny. It costs close to 50 million a year, but it’s critical because the mother who has two or three kids at home would have to pay $2,000-3,000 a year to have the yeshiva pick them up, or walk the kid to some bus stop. So that was a big deal and a very difficult thing to get done and we got it done.
But I feel like the mishegas [craziness] in the city has grown to such a degree that we really need to at least try to focus and put them on the spot about all the craziness they are imposing on the citizens; that is something you can’t do from Albany. Now the never-ending changes with the (street) cameras…Who’s sitting down trying to figure out how to torture people? I was against cameras from the beginning. I have said repeatedly they are only a way to tax people. They lied from the beginning, when (then mayor) Bill De Blasio said they only want cameras to protect children going to school. I said you’re going to start off like this and then you’re going to have cameras everywhere. And now they want cameras to monitor parked cars, and by the time they are finished they will use them for every [instance]…And the bicycle advocates – it’s almost like a religion.
Now, years later, there’s still no decrease in driver fatalities. I’ve argued, ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’ The way you reduce fatalities is for police to do random stops of people speeding and putting points on someone’s license – and that is the methodology to reduce fatalities.
Everyone walking on the streets or going on the train knows that crime in the city is at an all-time high. We have homeless people all over the streets, and the city is in a state of chaos and has been that way for quite some time. So being directly in the City Council and being able to try to address some of these issues I find is the way to help people most.
Though you identify as a Democrat, you are considered one of the most powerful members of the Senate because of your willingness to cross party lines to get things done. Is bipartisanship your philosophy for being a successful politician?
Historically I have run on three lines – the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative lines. In terms of working with people, I’m in the majority party because if you want to get something done that’s how you get something done. There’s no question there were well-known rabbis, including Rabbi Avigdor Miller, of blessed memory, who felt strongly that what I just said is not important; you cannot belong to a party that stands for certain things [you may be ethically or morally opposed to]. Other rabbis did not feel that way. I have only one goal: to get things done for my constituents – but at the same time remain a Kiddush Hashem – and I have tried my best to do that by getting along with everybody. In that process, automatically you are able to get certain things done that you may not have been able to get done otherwise. So I wouldn’t say that’s my strategy – that I’ll love everybody and everybody will love me – but in general…I think it serves my community best. I’m not interested in fighting about philosophical issues.
There are people that may run for office and say, “We have to be like Trump.” I voted for Trump – and some might say [we must speak only] Trump philosophy in the City Council. I would just say that sounds good but if you’re really trying to accomplish anything, how does that help? They know that you are Trump-Trump-MAGA-MAGA…and the majority of the members don’t like [Trump]. But most of [these] issues don’t affect the city – it boils down to your quality of life, your garbage pickups, your safety and your security, the needs of our children and loved ones with special needs, etc. If you want to accomplish things, you have to try to get along with people and even if they disagree with you, they shouldn’t feel like they hate you.
Your Senate district and the City Council district overlap to encompass Brooklyn’s Boro Park community. Tell us about some of your accomplishments for the residents of your districts so far.
There is no question this community has been helped in ways it never happened before. For example, [many of the playgrounds in our community] were reconstructed because of the grants that I got. It used to be the basketball courts were in the front of the parks and that’s where people would hang out and there were drugs and crime. We rearranged the playground and put the basketball courts in the back, so the playground became safer. Today, there is only one playground in the city that accommodates special-needs children of every sort and we were only able to get that done [behind closed doors]. Kelly Park on Avenue S is the only playground where every piece of equipment accommodates special-needs children and it’s magical.
There’s a section of the neighborhood called McDonald Avenue, where there is an elevated train and a lot of crime, and at the same time it has become a lot busier, connecting Flatbush to Boro Park. There was a time when people wouldn’t even cross there at night. I came up with a solution: “The Felder Arm.” Under the elevated train, the sidewalk is very dark, so I got a grant so that the light poles under the train have two arms, one that goes over the street and a smaller one that goes over the sidewalk so that people who frequently cross McDonald Ave. would feel safe. It was so successful, another 30 blocks are now being installed. I try to be creative and find ways to help people and make things better, and this is the type of stuff we are talking about. Not promising people things that are imaginary.
You voted for Donald Trump in the recent 2024 election. President Trump, an original New Yorker, revoked the city’s federal approval to enforce congestion pricing, which placed a steep daily toll on vehicles entering Manhattan to all points below 60th Street. How do you view his intervention in the city’s affairs?
Fantastic, because congestion pricing is just another tax, like the cameras, etc. They accomplished two things at once: The wealthiest people in the city who live on the East and West Sides of Manhattan did not want traffic, and they are the ones who give the political contributions to the governor and other candidates – so they are more important than anyone else. They came up with [congestion pricing] as a way of making them happy – not the rest of the city. So the fact that the president got involved is wonderful, and I’m delighted that he continues to be a leader that understands New York City.
What are your thoughts on the state of affairs in Israel?
The tragedy of October 7 changed people in ways we could never have imagined. We always turn to Tehillim and prayer in difficult times, but now in addition, we see every shul making a public Mishabeirach for our Israeli soldiers. The charity and kindness, the chesed of our people is always above and beyond the norm, but all the ways that our people have found to step up to these unprecedented needs are extraordinary. This unity, the achdus, is what will bring us the greatest reward, and I hope that as Hashem looks down and sees our response to the tragedy, He will have mercy not just on the country of Israel, but on all our people, and good people everywhere. G-d should have mercy on all of Israel, and I’m not only talking about the country – all of Israel, including the most chassidic shuls [are saying Tehillim]. The tragedy everyone understands, but the unity among the Jewish people is what will bring us the greatest reward, and [the hope is] that G-d should look down and see that as the most important result of this tragedy.
