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Voters in the mostly Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park, Brooklyn, will determine who will be their representative on the City Council in a special, nonpartisan election on March 25.
Simcha Felder, a Democratic state senator who’s been in elected office for decades, is facing Heshy Tischler, a social media-savvy provocateur who supports President Donald Trump.
Tischler, who hosts a radio show called "Just Enough Heshy," is constantly posting to social media videos of himself at different protests and rallies.
In one video on his YouTube page, he’s counter-protesting a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Borough Park. A protester slugs him and gives him a bloody nose.
He turned it into a campaign image, with the caption, "Fight, fight, fight" — like Trump’s iconic moment after his attempted assassination on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The council district covers Borough Park, Midwood and parts of Gravesend. It is expected to be a low-turnout election, with a few thousand voters casting ballots.
Felder and Tischler are running to finish the council term of Kalman Yeger, who was elected to the state Assembly.
"People know that yes, Heshy might be ‘the agitator,’ but he gets things done," Tischler told NY1 in an interview.
Tischler’s developed his always-on-video street activism during COVID-19.
"I took my bolt cutters and cut open the parks. And cut open 19 parks," Tischler said. "By the way, I was arrested."
On social media, he relentlessly disparages senior Jewish politicians.
"Chuck Schumer is no good. We’re fed up with our leaders. Mr. Felder has been in politics 26 something years, he’s done nothing the last three or four years," Tischler said.
Tischler is also campaigning against a homeless shelter.
"I want more for my homeless – my homeless people in my community — not to bring in different homeless," Tischler said.
It’s a style aimed at fed up voters.
"In Tischler’s case he’s more of the disruptor candidate probably those who are frustrated with the system, people that are upset," Ezra Friedlander, a political consultant who lives in Borough Park, told NY1.
Felder has been in Albany this week and was unable to schedule an interview with NY1.
His campaign sent a statement saying, in part, “In my decades of service, I have prioritized public safety and I have been able to achieve record results for our children, such as door-to-door bus transportation and security guards for all schools to keep our children safe.”
"Simcha Felder, who is in office, already has helped many constituents throughout his years in service. He’s relying on them to come out and vote for him," Friedlander said.
Meanwhile, another part of Felder’s campaign strategy is to just ignore Tischler.
