Why We’re Backing Assemblyman Brian Cunningham

Article by Rabbi Yaacov Behrman: Crown Heights United endorsed Assemblyman Brian Cunningham, despite the fact that a Jewish man had announced his intention to run against him. Here’s why.

By Rabbi Yaacov Behrman

Crown Heights United proudly endorsed Assemblyman Brian Cunningham weeks ago, despite the fact that a member of Anash had already announced his intention to run against him.

Brian Cunningham has been far more than simply friendly to the Jewish community and our yeshivos. He has consistently stood with our community on virtually every major issue affecting us, and no frum person seriously involved in state politics disputes that. Ask the mosdos and askonim who regularly work in Albany. There is a reason all four Orthodox Jewish Assemblymembers endorsed him.

Just as importantly, Cunningham is going to win. Turning against a proven ally under those circumstances is not only unprincipled, but a form of askanus malpractice.

At the same time, the “Anash” candidate running against him, whom I’ll refer to here as “Mr. Newly Registered,” only registered as a Democrat a few months ago when he decided to run for office, and has not voted in a single Democratic primary since moving to Crown Heights. Yet today, he lectures others about political engagement.

He absolutely has the right to run for office, even without prior involvement. But he does not have the right to demand support after years of political noninvolvement, including not voting. People like Mr. Newly-Registered, who do not vote, are part of the reason New York looks the way it does.

It should also be noted that nearly every issue Mr. Newly-Registered campaigns on, including bike lanes, shelters, and development projects, involves broader neighborhood concerns, not specifically Jewish issues. By framing everything primarily through a Jewish lens, he undermines his own ability to build support and achieve results. Effective advocacy requires coalition building and an understanding that elected officials represent the entire district.

Ironically, the one uniquely Jewish issue in this campaign, the Kingsbrook synagogue, is something I am personally involved in trying to save. Cunningham has been helpful. Mr. Newly Registered has not been involved, yet continues attacking Cunningham over the issue. If it is truly so important to him, where has he been?

Mr. Newly Registered has also been attacking Cunningham over the East Flatbush development with a homeless shelter, despite the fact that the project predates Cunningham and was largely approved before he took office. In addition, a State Assemblymember has little authority over such projects, so neither Cunningham nor Mr. Newly Registered can stop it.

Up until now, this was mostly standard campaign behavior: exaggerations, political spin, and selective facts. But then the campaign crossed a line.

Mr. Newly Registered’s campaign suggested that Cunningham was “deliberately” placing bike lanes in the “Jewish” section of the district while refusing to place them where “Black” and “hipster” residents were supposedly “begging” for them.

Bike lanes are controlled by the New York City DOT, not by a State Assemblymember. More importantly, framing the issue this way is reckless, divisive, and false.

And this Friday, things crossed an even more disturbing line.

The campaign attacked Cunningham over an assisted living facility for young adults aging out of foster care, falsely describing it as a homeless shelter, writing: “It is extremely generous of Assemblyman Cunningham for offering to place violent, dangerous gang members that were just released early from Rikers Island due to liberal policies, in our daled amos and try to make them into a ‘success.’”

That is a cruel and disgraceful way to speak about vulnerable young people who have already suffered tremendously. Many of them are orphans. To casually portray foster children as criminals and gang members is shameful. How exactly does he know whether any of them even have criminal records?

Imagine if a neighborhood group opposed HASC or Ohel opening a facility in Crown Heights. We would all be disgusted. Not every shelter or assisted living facility is the same, and not every resident should automatically be treated as a threat.

While it is true that, in order to qualify for some programs, a person may need to be formally classified as homeless, that does not make their current government-funded apartment a homeless shelter. I personally know families in the community who initially stayed in a homeless shelter and only afterwords qualified for housing assistance.

And even among homeless shelters, there is a wide range. I live two blocks from the shelter on Rogers and Carroll, and there have been no issues. In fact, I know several Lubavitch families who were able to take shelter there. The fact that it is located within the community is one of the reasons those families felt safe going there.

People can disagree about where a specific facility should be located while still speaking with decency and humanity. The streets of Crown Heights do not belong to any one person or group.

The Rebbe taught a very different approach. As he famously told David Dinkins: “We are one community, in one city, under one administration, and under one G-d.”

The opinions expressed are his own, and he is writing in his personal capacity.

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