A Borough Park politician who has spent more than 20 years representing South Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community has been invisible to the public after a speeding driver killed a mother and her two children on dangerous Ocean Parkway, tearing apart the fabric of the close-knit neighborhood.
Council Member Simcha Felder has been an elected representative in the Orthodox Jewish stronghold of Gravesend, Borough Park and Midwood for 23 years, first joining the City Council in 2002. He served three terms before being elected to the state Senate in 2012, where he served another 12 years before winning a landslide special election in March to replace Council Member Kalman Yeger, who was elected to the Assembly.
In all that time, his career has comprised a consistent effort to ensure that drivers can continue operating with impunity and that his neighborhood stays dangerous for pedestrians. He has been a staunch opponent of street safety measures, including Vision Zero itself, speed cameras, speed limits, and street redesigns.
In 2009, Felder defended illegal parkers from “enforcement vultures.” In 2013, Felder was instrumental in blocking initial approval of the city's speed camera program, even after a 2-year-old was killed by a reckless driver in Flatbush.
Felder then was the sole Senate Democrat (he has been a part of both parties) to vote against an expansion of the speed camera program after its 2014 approval.
In 2017, when Chaim Miller, a member of the Orthodox community, was hit and killed by a speeding driver on Ocean Parkway, then-Sen. Felder tried to blame the crash on the dead cyclist.
In 2018, Felder tried to block a plan to bring select bus service to the B82 and add a busway along Kings Highway. Felder and his pro-car allies argued on behalf of the minority — drivers — who wanted to continue parking along the bus route.
He also campaigned in 2018 to increase motorist speeds on deadly Ocean Parkway and has opposed street safety improvements for the dangerous roadway, where there have been 1,884 reported crashes since February 2020, causing 1,235 injuries to 144 cyclists, 218 pedestrians and 826 motorists, and six fatalities.
Also in 2018, thanks to Felder’s opposition, the city was forced to shut off its speed cameras's ticketing power. Just days later, a speeding hit and run driver killed a woman in his district.
And in 2019, Felder ran away from Families For Safe Streets activist Amy Cohen, who lost her son Sammy to a speeding driver, as she tried to speak with him about safe street policy changes to prevent more senseless deaths.
On Sunday, as his Midwood community grieved the killing of Natasha Saada and two of her children, who were mowed down in the crosswalk at Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road by recidivist speeder Miriam Yarimi, Felder was nowhere to be found.
Residents of his district, however, are terrified and want to see action from the new Council member and veteran pol.
“When I cross the street, I’m scared,” said Zoya Grigryan who was walking along Ocean Parkway with her grandson in a stroller on Sunday. “People lost their lives, two kids, a mother. My heart is in pain. After that, I can't relax, I’m just thinking and thinking. This is not a joke.”
Asoma Khomidova, who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years and witnessed the crash on Saturday, said she wants her representatives to do more.
“I have a car too, but this is not safe. I see everyday someone speeding. I hope more can be done. They need more cameras. When I take my kids to school it’s not safe for us,” she said.
Felder was not seen among the mourners at Sunday’s funeral, where his state government colleague Assembly Member Michael Novakhov told Streetsblog he doesn’t support legislation that would have required a “speed limiter” to be installed in the killer’s car.
Sponsors of the legislation, Assembly Member Emily Gallagher and state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, rallied with advocates on Monday to push for it. When asked about roadblocks caused by politicians like Novakhov and Felder, Gallagher chalked it up to a different perspective that comes from living differing lives.
“Well, we represent different people. We represent different experiences,” said Gallagher. "I think [Novakhov] needs to hear from more of the people who he’s working for that this is the answer that they want to see. A lot of times, our own view is persuaded only by hearing from the people that we work for, which is all the people in our district."
Felder’s Senate office did not respond to a request for comment.
