David Winograd/BrooklynCampaign.com

Simcha Felder addresses supporters at his Borough Park campaign office on November 6th, 2012 after winning the race for state senate in Brooklyn’s 17th senate district. Dov Hikind (right) and David Greenfield (left) endorsed Felder early in the race.

6 November 2012 – Brooklyn, N.Y. – Simcha Felder (center) addresses supporters at his campaign office after winning the race for state senate in Brooklyn’s 17th senate district. Dov Hikind (right) and David Greenfield (left) endorsed Felder early in the race.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — As Democratic President Barack Obama swept to a re-election victory Tuesday night, Brooklyn voters sent a Republican and a conservative Democrat to Albany to represent their newly drawn Senate districts.

Former City Council member Simcha Felder won the state Senate seat in the predominantly Jewish District 17, while incumbent Sen. Marty Golden defeated Andrew Gounardes in District 22.

Voters came out to the polls, even as the hurricane that ravaged part of the borough last week disrupted regular polling sites and caused confusion and long waits.

Felder, who ran on both the Democratic and Conservative party lines, defeated Republican Sen. David Storobin, winner of a March special election to replace former state Sen. Carl Kruger. Felder won with a decisive 66 percent of the vote: 36,641 votes to Storobin’s 18,105 votes.

Meanwhile, Golden defeated Democrat Gounardes, an attorney for the Citizens Committee for New York City, with 35,720 to 25,761 votes.

Both Felder and Golden were the heavy favorites heading into the election, with substantial financial advantages over their opponents. Eleven days before the general election, Felder, with $203,274, had nearly four times as much cash on hand as Storobin, who had $50,081. Golden raised $589,883, or 10 times as much as Gounardes’ $57,744.

“The community is the true winner tonight,” said O.B. Murray, Felder’s campaign manager. “The men and women throughout the entire district that he is representing will be well served.”

In a press release after his victory, Felder said he would work to reduce the tax burden on the community and get relief for parents paying tuition for non-public schools.

“Whether through tax credits, vouchers or whatever you want to call it – the state has an obligation to our families,” he said. “And I’ll go to Albany and do my best to collect on that obligation.”

“Tonight might seem like a celebration of a victory,” said Felder.  “But we must take a moment to reflect on the anguish of so many of our friends from across New York who are still recovering from the aftermath of the hurricane. …We will continue doing everything we can – as a community – to bring them every possible assistance we can offer.”

Pinny Ringel, Storobin’s chief of staff, declined to comment. A call placed early Wednesday morning to Storobin’s campaign office and an additional e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon went unanswered.

Felder, who waged a successful write-in campaign in September to defeat Storobin in the Conservative primary, has suggested he might caucus with the GOP in the Senate. Murray declined to comment. “We are just celebrating our victory tonight,” he said.

It is still unclear which party will have the majority control of the Senate in January. The GOP currently holds 33 out of 62 seats, however, the Democrats won a handful of critical races on Tuesday. It’s likely that the Democrats have a mathematical majority, however four state Democrats, who formed an independent caucus last year, have not expressed whether they will support a Democrat or Republican for majority leader.

If Felder does choose to caucus with the Republican party, he could play a pivotal role in maintaining Republican control of the Senate.

“I think he will. I hope he will,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whose district overlaps Felder’s District 17, at a victory party at Felder’s office. “Simcha will be amazing in Albany.”

“One of the things about Simcha is he’s a mensch,” Hikind said. “You don’t have to agree with him all the time, but he’s a straight shooter.”

Among voters, the familiarity of the incumbents — in Felder’s case, the former incumbent — influenced their decisions.

“He’s a household name, he treats everyone like an old friend. He will serve the community well,” Yisrael Dom, a resident of District 17, said of Felder.

6 November 2012 – Brooklyn, N.Y. – Simcha Felder (center) with his campaign manager, O.B. Murray (left), won the race for a state Senate seat in District 17 on November 6th, with a decisive margin of victory over opponent David Storobin.

For Marty Golden, who defeated Gounardes by a 17 point margin, this familiarity played a major role in his victory.

Carroll Hayet, 27, a data manager, said he voted for Golden because he was such a familiar figure and had proved himself an advocate for the community. “I’ve known him for a long time,” Hayet said. “He has put huge efforts in improving the park, making it cleaner, which is good for the community.”

However, his affinity for Republican candidates stopped at the national level. “I’m not feeling comfortable with Romney. He is always contradictory to himself,” he said. “I want someone stand strong in what he believes. Obama can fix his mistakes and brings more changes if he gets another four years.”

Maryland Major, 77, a Bay Ridge resident, voted for Mitt Romney. Regarding President Obama, she said she “wasn’t happy with the way he ran the [last] four years.”

Locally, she voted for Golden.

“First of all, I knew him as a child. He used to play in my mother’s basement with my niece,” she said. “But he’s done a lot for the area both here and Sheepshead Bay and wherever he is.”

Dan Bukszpan, 43 and his wife Asia, 42, voted for Gounardes. “He is optimistic and I think he will fight for his beliefs,” Asia said. “If Marty gives me one million dollars in cash, I might vote for him.”

The Bukszpans also voted for Obama. “Ever since Bush stole the election, it’s impossible for us to consider voting for Republicans,” Dan said.

Even as voters came to the polls and discussed politics, the shadow of last week’s hurricane was omnipresent.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order on Monday allowing voters in New York City and surrounding counties to vote at any polling place, since so many were closed in the wake of the storm. Areas near Senate Districts 17 and 22, like Gerritsen Beach and Coney Island, were hit particularly hard. Long lines and chaotic crowds of voters ensued.

“It’s been like a stampede,” said Inez Holmes, coordinator at Marlborough Gardens, a polling station south of Prospect Park.

Marlborough Gardens has always been a crowded site; it serves five election districts. But Tuesday, it also served as a polling place for residents whose usual sites were shut down because of Sandy.

The situation was further complicated by the fact that two other polling stations in the area, both public schools, were not being used today.

A police officer on site described the scene as “out of control.”

“Sandy has been problematic,” said Michael Patterson, 56, a coordinator with the Board of Elections, at the PS 170 polling station in Bay Ridge.

The lines at the polling centers did serve as an indication that the hurricane did not significantly hamper voter turnout, a fear of national and local candidates.

“People just want to get out and vote,” said Maryland Major, 77, a polling inspector at PS 170.

Six polling precincts in Brighton Beach and Coney Island were rerouted to Abraham Lincoln High School. Despite the inconvenience, voters were fairly optimistic about the government’s response to Hurricane Sandy in the past week.

Michele Brooks-Cherry, a Brighton Beach resident, was among those whose polling place was relocated. She said she checked the Board of Elections website to ensure she could still vote, and thinks most people in her position did the same.

“Everybody is moving as quickly as they possibly can, given the circumstances,” she said.

The storm also changed the nature of campaigning by state Sen. Marty Golden. Earlier today, Golden handed out flyers promoting FEMA aid instead of his candidacy at a polling site in Gerritsen Beach.

“These people here are without electricity,” Golden told the New York World. “That’s the focus for me.”

Niki Blasina, Alana Abramson, David Winograd, Shadi Bushra, Helga Salinas, Ding Chenjie and Anna Goldenberg contributed to this report.

By Niki Blasina

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Throughout the U.S., lower-income voters tend to favor President Barack Obama’s re-election. But in Brooklyn, one of the borough’s poorer neighborhoods is also one of those most likely to vote Tuesday for Republican Mitt Romney.

That neighborhood is Borough Park, where almost 30 percent of the population is living at or below the poverty line, but where 79 percent of voters favored John McCain in 2008.

The area is home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the world, and is one where worries about Israel, national security and religious freedom trump the traditional concerns of low-income voters.

Moreover, voter engagement has historically been low in Borough Park; in 2008, approximately 30 percent voted, as compared to 50 percent borough-wide.

Need for Social Services

About half of the people living in Borough Park are eligible for food stamps, and are receiving extra help through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Home Relief cash assistance programs. Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, executive director of the Boro Park Jewish Community Council, assists approximately 600 families per month in applying for these programs. His office is “a one-stop social service agency,” he said.

Silber attributes much of the community’s need to family size, which in Borough Park is very large: households with seven or more persons make up 15% of the neighborhood, compared to 2.9% of the city. The average household size is 4.35, compared to 2.57 in the city as a whole, and the median household income in Borough Park is $35,508 per year.

“A family of four making $60,000 per year is considered middle class, but in this community where you have large families, it doesn’t work that way,” said Silber. “People with 8, 10, or 12 are not unusual in this community, so people can make a decent salary but it’s not enough.”

Silber primarily assists families obtain food stamps. “There’s a misconception that food stamps are only for people on welfare, or not working, and that’s totally false,” he said. “The majority of people on food stamps are working people, they have jobs and bring home a paycheck, and unfortunately they might not stretch out far enough to satisfy all their nutritional needs.”

Moshe Friedman, 34, a consultant, says that government support is not something that is talked about openly. “But you see it,” he said. “You go to the grocery store, and you see people pulling out a food-stamp card to pay.”

Friedman says the need for assistance goes beyond additional mouths to feed. Religious education for children is expensive, as yearly tuition averages about $9,000 per child. Weddings are also a major expense. “It costs thousands of dollars to marry off kids and the parents usually pay for it,” he said.

Nationwide, only a third of voters who make less than $24,000 plan to support Romney, while Obama gets more than half their votes, according to a Gallup poll released in September.  The trends are similar for those making between $24,000 and $36,000. Yet, if history is a guide, Borough Park voters are more likely to vote for Romney, who has promised a close examination of welfare programs, in light of the ballooning federal deficit.

Financial need is also not the main priority in the Orthodox community when making voting decisions.

“I try to encourage people to not have one litmus test,” said Silber. “Look at all of the issues and decide what’s most important. Social, moral, religious issues – things along those lines,” are important factors.

Friedman agrees. “Because we lead a religious life, there are some things that are much more important than any kind of money,” he said. “There are a lot of things that people will do knowing that it will hurt them financially.”

“If someone in our neighborhood is going to vote for same-sex marriage, the guy could bring in millions of dollars for our community but he’ll still be voted out,” said Friedman.

This happened to Democrat Councilman Lew Fidler earlier this year. The group “Jews for Morality” published a letter in which 49 rabbis argued against voting for Fidler, a proponent of gay marriage. Fidler lost many rabbinical endorsements, and the special election last March for a state Senate seat to Republican David Storobin.

Israel and National Security

The state of Israel is an important political issue as well. “In this community it’s which candidate is perceived as more supportive of Israel,” said Silber. “Especially being in New York where people have been the victims of terror.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had a rocky relationship with President Obama, which has been amplified heading into the election due to tension over Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu and Romney have been friends for over 35 years, and throughout his campaign, Romney has accused Obama of throwing Israel “under the bus.”

Romney and Obama have both said that they would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

Low Turnout

Voter turnout in past elections in Borough Park has been very low.  Friedman noted that there is mistrust of government; a prime example is the U.S. Census.

Friedman encouraged people to fill out Census forms, because “the government allocates money based on how many people live” in an area. But he has friends who wouldn’t do it.

One reason may be historical. In pre-war Germany, Nazis used census records to identify Jews. When Holocaust survivors moved to the U.S., “the government came to the doors asking them for where they live, how they live, and what their name is, and they said, ‘I was asked that same question 10 years ago and they took people to the gas chambers,’” said Friedman. “And when the next generation grew up they said, ‘Hold on, my mother never gave any information,’” and so the suspicion continues.

Shmuel Poller, 53, was a recruiting assistant for the Census in 2010. “Lots of people had a paranoia,” he said. “We had push to get people to know that this is different, and not to worry about it.”

Community Support

Not all support comes from the government. For anyone struggling to get by, there is also community support available, such as the kosher soup kitchen, Masbia, directed by Alexander Rappaport, 34. Masbia is almost entirely privately funded. “We’re the emergency room or last resort for anything that goes wrong,” Rappaport said.

Members of the community also help each other, whether it’s through babysitting, cooking meals, or providing places to stay or hand-me-down clothing.

“If there’s a wedding, people will say, ‘My daughter’s dress is available so you don’t have to go buy a dress,’” said Rappaport. “If you marry off your daughter and invite some guests, you don’t put them in a hotel. Anyone on the block will have them stay over.”

This community support is also driven by religious life, since everyone is considered equal. “The fish monger and the stock broker go to the same ritual bath,” said Rappaport.

As the Nov. 6 election approaches, Sen. Golden and his Democratic challenger Andrew Gounardes have squared off at recent events in Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge where community members had the opportunity to ask the two candidates about the issues that matter to them. On both occasions, Golden came under fire for his record on women’s issues—in particular, his record of addressing gender discrimination in the workplace.

With a national gender wage gap that has remained stagnant for the past decade, the issue of equal pay for women has risen to the forefront of national and local elections alike this year. The race for Senate District 22 is no exception. In the state of New York, there have been multiple attempts over the years to correct the wage disparity through legislation. One particular incident in Golden’s voting history has come back to haunt him in this election.

In 2011, Golden voted against the New York State Fair Pay Act, which was aimed at addressing the gender wage gap for state service employees. The bill did not pass the Senate’s Committee of Civil Service and Pensions, by a 7-5 vote.

What is the New York State Fair Pay Act?

The Fair Pay Act (S248A) was aimed at addressing the fact that “many women are still segregated into a few low-paying occupations … more than half of all women work in occupations which are over 70% female, and 25% are in jobs which are more than 95% female. The National Academy of Sciences … found [in the 1981 study, Women, Work, and Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value] that ‘the more an occupation is dominated by women, the less it pays.’” Proponents of the bill argue that sex discrimination is deeply imbedded into wage structures which historically undervalue work done by women.

Currently, the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 and New York Labor Law, Sec. 194 (Equal Pay Law) prohibit employers from engaging in wage discrimination based on sex.

“But millions still work for less than their job-title content is worth,” according to the New York State Pay Equity Coalition. “They work as librarians, secretaries, health aids … and other job titles traditionally done by women … job titles traditionally done by women and people of color have been undervalued in the marketplace … traditionally female job titles should be paid the same as male-dominated jobs requiring comparable skills and responsibilities.”

The Fair Pay Act has thus been characterized as an “equal pay for equivalent work,” or “equal pay for comparable work” law, as opposed to the “equal pay for equal work” laws which are currently in place.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, “The typical American woman who works full time, year-round, is paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to her male counterpart. This gap in earnings translates into $11,084 less per year in median earnings…” The gender pay gap persists despite enforcement of equal pay laws at both the state and federal level.

Locally, the median income for males in Brooklyn working full-time is approximately $42,000, while the median income for females is approximately $40,000, according to American Community Survey census data. This translates to roughly a 76 cents per dollar wage gap. As shown in Figure A, even when the comparison is made with men and women at the same education level, this wage gap persists:

FIGURE A: Median Earnings per Year by Sex and Education Level in Brooklyn, NY

Median Earnings per Year by Sex and Education Level in Brooklyn, NY, Analyzed from 2006-2010 ACS data

While the wage gap is greater at higher levels of education when measured in absolute terms of dollars earned, at lower education levels, it is proportionately greater with respect to the total amount earned. For men and women with less than a high school degree, the wage gap is 75 cents per dollar, whereas at the graduate or professional degree level, the gap is 86 cents per dollar.

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) recently released a report, Graduating to a Pay Gap, which found that one year after graduation, women earned 82 cents on the dollar when compared to their male counterparts. This remained true even after the study authors controlled for hours, occupation, college major, employment sector, and other factors. “About one third of the gap cannot be explained by any of the factors commonly understood to affect earnings,” wrote the study authors.

The gender pay gap has far-reaching effects, especially as more women become heads of families. “Women’s pay is now a family issue,” said Roli Wendorf, Legal Advocacy Fund Vice President of the AAUW. “You’re making some families suffer because you’re having a woman as a head of the household rather than a man.” Pay disparities also have social consequences, said Wendorf. “There’s all this talk about women make choices about staying at home—some of it is related to the wage gap. When [it’s] time for somebody to stay at home you pick the low-earning one.”

Why did Sen. Golden vote against the bill?

At the Dyker Heights debate on Oct. 9 at Saint Phillips Episcopal Church, Golden was asked about his decision to vote against the Fair Pay Act. “It comes down to a simple objective and arbitrary concept: What do we call comparable worth?” asked Golden, referring to the bill’s aim of “compensating employees in state service equally for work of comparable value.”

“What is and how do you define comparable worth? It would take us a number of committees and a number of years to figure out what comparable worth was. I think it was well-intended but it would have cost our cities and townships across the state expenses you’ve never seen before … it would triple both state and local governance,” said Golden. “We need clear defining guidelines. The bill was flawed, and that’s why it didn’t get passed.”

Gounardes immediately attacked Golden for his statement. “I’m offended by that, to say we can’t afford to pay women the same as men,” said Gounardes, prompting a huge round of applause from the audience. “It’s not only wrong, it’s not only offensive—frankly, it’s ridiculous.”

Gounardes criticized Golden for not correcting the bill’s flaws with an amendment so that it could get passed. The bill went through the Committee of Civil Service and Pensions, which Golden chairs.

“Why didn’t you try to fix the bill?” asked Gounardes. “It is your committee. You didn’t offer that amendment, Marty, you didn’t do it.”

Many voters have been similarly critical of Golden’s decision to vote against the bill.

“Marty is really out of touch with the issues of the community, especially women’s issues,” said Betty Ann Canizio, 65, who has lived in Bensonhurst for 25 years and serves as the District Leader of the 49^th Assembly District. “A man that does not think I am worth as much money as a man doing the same work does not have my vote or my respect.”

Canizio was not convinced by Golden’s argument that it would be too hard to determine what “comparable worth” meant. “I think he needs to use Google,” she said.

At the Oct. 11 Candidates’ Forum at PS 170 in Bay Ridge, the issue resurfaced. John Meliska, 32, who is from Bay Ridge and works in finance, asked Golden, “In the previous debate, you said you voted against the Fair Pay Act because you cannot afford to pay men and women the same. By that logic, should we save money also by engaging in discrimination based on race, religion, physical disability, and how old someone is?”

“The bill was unmanageable,” Golden responded. “You need legislation that you understand, that you know works!”

His answer prompted a round of applause from the audience, but Meliska said he was not satisfied with the answer. “I thought I gave him a good opportunity to say he opposes the idea,” he said, “but all he did was dodge. He’s been in office a long time and he’s very attuned at crafting words that sound good.”

Who supports the Fair Pay Act?

Lois Haignere, Upstate Coordinator of the New York State Pay Equity Coalition, says her organization has been advocating for pay equity adjustments in traditionally female jobs for more than a decade.

“We need to be able to hire quality teaching assistants in our schools, and nurses, librarians, social workers … women can now work elsewhere and quality workers will go elsewhere if you don’t raise the salaries in these very important and responsible jobs.”

Haignere points out that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made the same argument for raising the salaries of his commissioners, who are currently “#3 in the nation with their pay.” “Would that we could say that … [our] preschool educators, teaching assistants, librarians and social workers were ‘#3 in the nation with their pay’,” said Haignere.

According to Haignere, in 1987, comparable worth adjustments, defined as “reclassification of job titles where women and people of color predominate to higher salary grades based on comparison with male dominated job titles of comparable value,” were made to 239 New York State Civil Service job titles. More than 47,000 employees received raises as a result, resulting in estimated 20-year earnings increases of up to $109,000. However, said Haignere, many workers in traditionally female or minority jobs have not received comparable worth adjustments, and legislation like the Fair Pay Act could address this problem.

There are some women’s rights advocates, however, who agree that there were problems with the Fair Pay Act as it was written at the time it came to a vote. Shirley Ranz, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) PAC which has endorsed Gounardes in this election, said, “The way it was written was not passable. It needs a lot of work.” However, Ranz also criticized Golden for failing to propose any new legislation in place of the bill.

In September, Golden did claim to have been a co-sponsor for the recently passed Women’s Workforce Bill, which Ranz says is part of the solution to closing the pay gap. Golden issued a letter to his constituents in which he stated, “In June, Beverly Neufeld, President of the New York Women’s Aenda and Director of the Equal Pay Coalition, called legislation that I co-sponsored, ‘…a welcome accomplishment for Equal Pay advocates and women across New York,’” in reference to the Women’s Workforce Bill.

The Women’s Workforce Bill ensures that “women who are seeking help from the Dept. of Labor or other government agencies would not be steered toward the traditional women’s work,” said Ranz. “Women should be doing all kinds of work if they want to achieve equality.”

However, Golden was not a sponsor of the bill as he claimed. “He’s taking credit for something he had nothing to do with,” said Ranz. “It was passed unanimously, he had nothing to do with that bill except vote for it the way everybody else did.”

In an interview with Politicker, a spokesperson for Golden’s campaign said the letter was merely an error. “The Senator strongly supported and voted for the bill,” said the spokesperson. “He was under the impression that he had, in fact, signed on as a co-sponsor. If given the opportunity again, he would do so. The statement in the letter was in error, but does not diminish the fact that the Senator did strongly advocate for its passage and voted for it.”

Mary Reilly, president of the New York State Federation of Republican Women (NYSFRW), says her organization will be supporting Golden in the coming election, and she feels that Golden made the right decision in voting against the Fair Pay Act.

“I believe that if the bill that was presented was passed, it would open up a can of worms and, in fact, cause more problems and more suits to be filed against the state,” said Reilly. “As a woman, I definitely believe in equal pay, but it has to be done properly. To just pass it for the sake of saying, ‘This is going to help women,’ when in fact what it’s going to do is end up in lawsuits, is not a good set-up.”

Reilly feels it was unfair for Gounardes to criticize Golden for not fixing the bill. “It’s always easy for a candidate or people not walking in the senator’s shoes to say, ‘He should do this,’ or ‘He should do that,’” she said. “I believe that he would vote for it when it’s a fair bill. Both sides have to sit down, look at this properly, consider the ramifications involved and see what they can do to tweak it. It’s definitely something I would like to see go through.”

A staunch believer in the power of democracy, she has exercised this right ever since. For her, voting is essential to securing a good future for her family and the country.

“Its an investment. Its the future, not just the present. Voting gives you a sense of responsibility, realizing that I am a part of this system and I have to make it work,” she said.

Her activism extends beyond the voting booth. She says she regularly volunteers for Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, and helps organize voter registration drives in her Catholic church, Our Lady of Refuge, which is located in Midwood.

Lucas is a registered Democrat who staunchly supports the party’s platform. But she is undecided who she will vote for in the local state senate race between Democratic candidate Simcha Felder and his Republican opponent, David Storobin.

Part of this indecision, she says, comes from a lack of information about the candidates. She has received mailings from both of them, but has not seen either of them in person. They have not come to events at her church like other politicians, and she does not have a firm grasp of where they stand on the issues.

“I need to hear more. I need to feel some passion they are feeling for the community, the seniors, the uninsured,” she said.

In this area, also known as District 17, Lucas is a minority, a Catholic in a heavily Jewish area. District 17 is informally touted as the “super Jewish district” for its consolidation of the ultra-orthodox Jewish enclaves of Borough Park and Midwood. Both Storobin and Felder are Jewish, although Felder is more traditionally observant.

Lucas says it does not bother her that both candidates are Jewish, or that the district is so heavily orthodox. She says the Orthodox community mostly sticks to themselves, but is friends with many secular Jews in the neighborhood. She has attended Friday evening services at the East Midwood Jewish Community Center, and felt completely at home.

But she thinks religious differences might have dis-incentivized the candidates from reaching out to her community.

“Maybe he [Felder] figures they aren’t interested in me because I am Jewish. They might have that feeling, all these people are black, they are from the Caribbean how would they have the same interest as me? But how would they know that until they come campaign?” she said.

Interestingly, the decision to redraw this district came as the area was becoming more diverse. In 1980, Midwood was 88.7% white, and 6.3% African-American, according to Census data. Categories tracking the number of Asian and Hispanic residents were not even included in the census. By 2010, the white population had decreased nearly 20%, comprising 71.6% of the entire population. The African-American population had increased to 8.7%, while the Asian Hispanic populations increased to 12.6% and 9.5%. respectively.

Borough Park showed similar demographic changes. The Asian population has increased by 50% between 2000 and 2010, according to Census data, from 15.8% to 22.2%. The Hispanic population has remained relatively steady since 1990; it is currently 11.8%.

“The area has gotten very diverse, we have completely changed,” said Lucas. According to the Church’s website, it serves over 30 nationalities and 3 language groups: English, Spanish, and Creole.

The church is located at the very border of the district, on the corner of Foster Avenue and Ocean Avenue. According to mapping, there is some ambiguity over whether it falls in district 17 or neighboring district 21. But there are members of the church, like Lucas, who live within the districts borders.

Like Lucas, Father Michael Perry, the Pastor at our Lady of Refuge, said in an interview that neither Felder nor Storobin have reached out to him. He said local politicians such as Jacobs and Councilman Matthew Eugene have reached out to him in the past, and he was surprised by the lack of communication from these candidates.

Ideally, Perry said, he would have expected a call from one of Felder and Storobin’s assistants to reach out and arrange a meeting. But he says he has not even received any fliers.

“Its not like we’re hidden. We are centrally located and very active in the community,” he said. He added that the church has over 1400 families, but nearly half of the members are undocumented.

He said the high number of undocumented residents could be a factor in the lack of outreach from the candidates. But Perry also thinks it is a possibility that the candidates have not reached out because the parishioners who live in the district are a minority, a thought he says he would find incredibly disappointing should he be able to confirm it.

“If they are only sticking to their own, that is not what democracy is about,” he said.

Granted, even with the increased level of diversity, the non-Jewish community in this district is small, especially compared with other neighborhoods in the New York City. But demographically, they have potential to be significant. If half of the Jewish population stayed home and none of the non-Jewish population stayed home, then the voter turnout would be 35% to 30%.

“The 30% is just as important as the 70%,” said Lucas.
Other non-Jewish residents also said the level of outreach from the state senate candidates had been lower this year, but were not particularly bothered by it.

Steve Chung, the President of the United Chinese Association in Bensonhurst, said that he has received an e-mail from Storobin and his campaign staff had contacted his office. He has also been contacted by Assemblyman William Colton and State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes, but had not received anything from Felder.

Felder held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at his office in Boro Park where, according to a press release from the campaign, “community leaders from throughout the district” attended. Chung said that he was not informed about the ceremony.

However, Chung said Felder’s record as city councilman left him confident that he would represent his community should he win the race. He said that when Felder was councilman, he gave the UCA a $25,000 grant to start a senior center.

“We wouldn’t have been able to start the center without the grant,” said Chung.

Like Chung, Fazi Ater, 28, says she is accustomed to more outreach from candidates. She has received mailings from both candidates, but that is all

“Last year I received phone calls about surveys,” she explained.

But Ater, a part time owner at the Halal Meat grocery store in Ditmas Park, is not bothered by the fact that she has only received mailings. She has made up her mind about who she will support in the race, but would not comment on her decision.

Neither the Felder nor Storobin campaigns could be reached for comment about campaign strategies for voter outreach, despite repeated attempts to contact them.

Rabbi Chaim Israel, a Borough Park resident who is in the real estate business, said that both Felder and Storobin have sought votes within the Orthodox Community, but in different ways. Storobin, Israel explained, has made a concerted effort to appeal to all voters in the community, while Felder has been less visible, courting community leaders and relying on his record as city councilman.

“Storobin has been doing a lot of advertisements and mailings simply because he wants to remain in the public eye,” Israel explained.

Israel added that he has not received any mailings from Felder but he knows Felder “reached out to very public key figures like rabbis and activists in the community, met with them and sought their support and endorsement.”

Israel would not specify which community leaders Felder had reached out to. But Rabbi Dovid Eichenstein, the head of the Hasidic dynasty Burshtin, whose headquarters are in Borough Park, recently blessed Felder’s new campaign office, and praised the candidate for his leadership capabilities.

Felder’s new campaign office is in the heart of Boro Park, right across the street from the Shomrei Shabbos synagogue, where a service takes place every fifteen minutes.

Joseph Hayon, another member of the orthodox community, is running for State Assembly in District 45, which he says has “20% overlap” with District 17. He said people in his community have told him that both Storobin and Felder are campaigning heavily in the Orthodox community and seeking endorsements from Rabbis. But he said that most endorsements would not be announced until right before the election.

“They are both courting rabbinical support for the election. Something like this is done behind the scenes. [We] Will not find out until before the general election,” Hayon said.

On Sept. 13, the New York City Board of Health passed a regulation mandating that parents sign a consent form before engaging in “metzitzeh b’peh,” an ancient circumcision ritual. In an interview with the Atlantic Magazine yesterday, Bloomberg was asked about the regulation and indicated he was one of the few officials brave enough to do it.

“I think it’s fair to say that nobody else would take that on. I mean, come on! … Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office, screaming?,” he told the author, James Bennett.

Metizteh b’peh is an ancient circumcision ritual where the mohel, or circumciser, uses oral suction at the end of the procedure to remove the blood from the baby’s penis.  It is only performed in a small number of ceremonies, mainly in the ultra-orthodox community.

Both Democrat Simcha Felder and Republican David Storobin, the candidates running in District 17, which is approximately 70% Jewish, took offense at Bloomberg’s remarks.

Felder issued a joint statement with Assemblyman Dov Hikind condemning the mayor both for the regulation and his subsequent comments, according to a pres release sent out by his campaign.

The statement explains that the politicians are appalled with the way Bloomberg “… moves to restrict our right to freely practice our religion. Then he uses offensive and derisive language aimed towards our community. I am asking Mayor Bloomberg to apologize for these insensitive words, which simply do not have any place in our society, especially from our political leaders. I am also requesting that he end his attack on metzitzah b’peh and on religious freedom.”

According to an article in Politicker, Storobin has released a similar statement.

“The people of my district and the entire Jewish community are deeply offended and appalled by the comment Mayor Bloomberg made the other day … of how proud he is standing up  to ’10,000 black hats’ protesting against his aggressive approach in imposing regulations on metzitah b’peh…. The Mayor’s utter ignorance doesn’t stop by raising taxes and hurting small businesses in our community, but now by insulting and demeaning an entire community for standing up for their rights of religious freedom.”,

While the two campaigns agree on this issue, it is still a point of contention between them.

Kenny Rice, 29, a Midwood resident and volunteer for the Storobin campaign, said he thinks Felder is just releasing a statement against Bloomberg for his own political gain, because he has supported the mayor in the past.

“Simcha Felder was responsible for Michael Bloomberg having a third term, so a Republican candidate couldn’t run. …. He is a City Hall insider. The link to the constituency gets further and further away,” said Rice.

As a city councilman, Felder was chairman of the Committee on Governmental Operations, which voted to extend term Bloomberg’s term in 2008.

Besides the press release, the Felder campaign could not be reached for comment, despite an attempt to contact Campaign manager

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, 22-year-old Malaysia Chisholm watched a dozen children bustling around on a playground off Cortelyou Road in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Among them was her two-year-old son Sean, a toddler with cornrows and a serious face, ignoring his mother, as he was busy debating with this playmates on the jungle gym.

Sean Chisholm’s playmates were White, African American, Asian and Hispanic. Cortelyou Road marks the border of Census Tract 520, which is among the most diverse in the U.S. According to the 2010 census, 23% of the 4,228 inhabitants are White. 22% are African American, 31% are of Asian, and 21% of Hispanic origin.

Cortelyou Road is filled with restaurants of different national cuisines, intermingled with convenience stores that cater to the needs of different cultures. In the cafés, mostly young people sat with laptops and books. Outside a large organic supermarket, shoppers tied the bags to their bike handles. Posters remind passers-by of the weekly Sunday green market.

It’s the last kind of scene you’d expect to find in State Senate district 17, the so-called “super-Jewish” district that is a bastion of conservative, Orthodox families.

As the borders of the State Senate districts were redrawn in early 2012, Tract 520 became part of District 17, where candidates Simcha Felder and David Storobin are currently competing for the votes to be cast on November 6.

Both candidates have aimed most of their efforts at the conservative majority in Borough Park and Midwood, a few blocks south – and a world away – from the diversity of Ditmas Park.

Late on a Thursday afternoon, the streets around Avenue K in Midwood were almost empty, and almost quiet. The sound of the remote control to lock cars was heard occasionally, usually followed by a well-dressed middle-aged person vanishing into one of generously sized one-family-houses with lush lawns.

Census Tract 754 extends along eight blocks between Avenue K and M and East 23rd to East 27th Street. Of the 1,488 people who live in the area, all but five are White.

Tova Schenberg is one of them. The 44-year-old American history teacher lives in New York City’s least diverse census tract. “More established people live in the area, like professionals, business owners and doctors”, she said, most of them Orthodox like her. The younger generation, she said, tends to move away to more affordable areas.

High living expenses might be the only thing that the two census tracts have in common.

Malaysia Chisholm in Ditmas Park rolled her eyes when asked about this issue: “The living costs are so high.”

The lively African American is currently completing her GED. She dropped out of high school when she got pregnant. She lives with her mother and sister, and shares a room with her two-year-old son.

Moving to a one-bedroom-apartment, she calculated, would cost between $1,500 and $1,800 dollars per month.

Ditmas Park is part of Victorian Flatbush, a neighborhood built a century ago as a serene suburb of Brooklyn. From a predominantly White area, it changed into a crime-ridden neighborhood with ethnic tensions in the second half of the last century.

The prices of the Victorian townhouses in Ditmas Park have increased greatly over the past decade, costing between $600,000 and $1,000,000 as of October 2012.