L-R: Former mayor Ed Koch, Senator Joseph Lieberman, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Councilman Simcha Felder, former senator Alfonse DAmato.

Mr. Simcha Felder, who is resigning his seat as city councilman for the 44th district, came to Hamodia offices for a heartfelt farewell interview. Mr. Felder is taking on the job of deputy comptroller of New York City, under Comptroller John Liu.

Interview Conducted by Yosef Rapaport

First, to reminisce a bit, can you tell us about your personal history and how you became involved in politics?

SF: I was born in Maimonides Hospital, and grew up on 49th Street and 18th Avenue, in the apartment right behind my father's shtiebel. I went to the Stoliner Yeshivah, first on 16th Avenue, then 14th, and then 18th. My father was Harav Tzvi Mordechai Felder, zt"l, whose first yahrtzeit is on Taanis Esther. My mother, amu"sh, still keeps up the shul that my father started almost sixty years ago, when 18th Avenue was a suburb of Boro Park and my father was one of two Jews on the block. The shul itself is basically on autopilot by now; hundreds of people daven there every day in continuous minyanim and there is learning going on at all times of the day and night. The Felder shul, as it is commonly known, was an unofficial social service organization long before that type of chessed became routine in our community. By the way, I think we take for granted all of today's wonderful chessed organizations that are constantly starting up to address every possible need. What did we do before Misaskim?! But when I was a child, there weren't many such organizations, so if somebody needed a place to sleep, they could come to our apartment. And we didn't have a large apartment.

Would you say that gave you the inspiration for public service?

SF: Certainly the compassion that my parents had for people must have been contagious. The Felder kids didn't have much growing up, but we never felt like we were deprived of anything. The best suit I ever had was a hand-me-down Barney's suit that somebody in the shul passed down to me. Stolin was a wonderful place for me as well. From there I went to Mesivta Torah Vodaath, also in the neighborhood, and received semichah from Rav Pam, zt"l - he felt that I needed structure in my learning, and encouraged me to study for semichah. As time went on I started thinking about my future, and decided to attend Touro College, which was then on 18th Avenue and Ocean Parkway. So really, my life, education and career have all been centered in the district that I represent.

Do you see your choice of becoming politically involved as an extension of your background at home and in your neighborhood?

SF: Well, to this day I still clean up the shalosh seudos in shul! After 40 years, I don't trust anyone else to do the job right.

Yes, I've seen you going around with the pushkas in shul. Tell us a little about the path that led you to seek elected office.

SF: After I completed my accounting degree and CPA, I became a tax auditor for the NYC Department of Finance examining multi-million dollar corporations like Johnson and Johnson and Squibb. I stayed there for ten years but there wasn't much sipuk hanefesh - satisfaction - in the job so I decided to go for an MBA from Baruch so I could explore other options. I also started teaching management courses at Touro College, which I enjoyed very much. It sort of brought me back to my roots and gave me an opportunity to interact with people again. At that point, I began volunteering in voter-registration drives and similar efforts.

So you were starting to feel a calling?

SF: It was definitely brewing. Ultimately, I took a job at the Comptroller's office for a brief period and then became chief-of-staff for Assemblyman Hikind. When term limits were enacted, Judge Noach Dear, who had served the community admirably as councilman for many years, had to leave office. It was at that point that I seriously began to consider running for office. My wife and I don't do anything without being sho'el eitzah from rebbeim and mentors, so I went to speak to a Rebbe with whom I am still close. He told me that serving the tzibbur brings great s'char, but is also a tremendous responsibility with a lot of agmas nefesh involved. "I can't tell you to do it," he said, "but I will give you my brachah." He stipulated, though, that my focus must always be on local issues and that I must not try to become a "Jewish leader" and I have always strived to adhere to that. After eight years in office I can attest that everything he said is true in terms of the agmas nefesh, but it's also true that there is tremendous sipuk hanefesh in the job.

People are always knocking at your door, both at your office and home I would imagine. Do people in our community have an inflated perception of what a councilman can do?

SF: I think the answer to that is that we as politicians, and I'm sorry that I must include myself, are partially guilty for that, because when we run for office we make it seem that if only Simcha Felder gets elected, there will never be any problems again: no traffic problems, no housing problems, no shidduch problems! In all seriousness, when I originally ran for office, I tried my best to focus on areas where I honestly felt inroads could be made. One small example was getting the garbage trucks off the streets between eight and nine in the morning, which in fact, we did get done. I tried working on the B11 bus and creating an F train express but the MTA wouldn't cooperate. So you can't get everything done, as hard as you try. On the other hand, in terms of housing, baruch Hashem the Culver el project is close to completing the necessary city approvals. That should be under way very shortly and will bring almost 200 affordable housing units into the community. SBCO, the Agudah housing arm, has done a great job on this project, which will also benefit the bordering yeshivos with playing areas and parking for buses. This took a huge amount of time and effort - l'fum tzaara agra. I'm looking forward to enjoying the nachas of the work that we've put into the community. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than watching the children running around in the 18th Avenue park, which I'm so proud to have funded. Incidentally, we've secured millions of dollars to expand the park further in the coming years with more play space including specialized equipment for handicapped children. It's really very humbling to have played a role in these efforts.

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