Rockaway, Queens. (Photo: Getty)

Earlier this afternoon, "a group of irate Orthodox community leaders" held a conference call to protest poll site changes implemented in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. In the call, local Jewish leaders alleged their new voting location was designed to dampen turnout in their ideologically conservative community as it struggles to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy's devastation.

"We're a group of people who really, really suffered tremendously," Richard Altabe, a board member of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, said. "Or voting rights are about to be taken away from us. It's going to be difficult enough to get people to vote....Our ability to speak and have our voices heard is going to be squashed by circumstances. I'm really, really horrified."

The new poll site in Far Rockaway, the leaders said, was a mile away from their current one. Eli Shapiro, of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, claimed they presented a closer, alternative site to the Board of Elections but were shut down

"We've been told that the Democratic commissioner won't sign off on the change of location," Mr. Shapiro said, but he was unable to elaborate further on the specifics.

Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Altabe both represent organizations that formally endorsed GOP Councilman Eric Ulrich's campaign against Democratic Senator Joe Addabbo, which is among the most highly-watched in the entire state. Mr. Ulrich's campaign organized the conference call.

"Absolutely. Why else did they do that? Why else would they disenfranchise a community?" Mr. Altabe said when asked if it was a conspiracy to boost Mr. Addabbo's reelection bid. "I would not like to believe that Joe Addabbo himself would want such a thing. Even though we supported one candidate over the other, we don't believe Joe Addabbo to be an evil person."

Others have also sounded the alarm over the BOE's Election Day plans tomorrow, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg. As of this writing, the Board took down their list of poll site changes online, and the hotline number for more information, 1-866-VOTE-NYC, results in a dial tone. An alternative number provided by good goverment groups, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, is available, however.

BOE Commissioner J.C. Polanco said his agency is working "around the clock" to ensure all New Yorkers can vote tomorrow.

(Photo: Getty)

In latest issue of The Atlantic, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a freewheeling interview on a multitude of issues ranging from the presidential race to his public health efforts, including a new consent form requirement for a controversial circumcision practice, metzizah b’peh, often used in the city's Orthodox Jewish community. "I think it’s fair to say that nobody else would take that on. I mean, come on!" Mr. Bloomberg exclaimed of the political fortitude needed to even touch the issue. "Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office, screaming?"

Two Orthodox Jewish officials were not amused, however. Councilman David Greenfield and his predecessor, former Councilman Simcha Felder, released a sharply critical statement this morning blasting Mr. Bloomberg.

"For the mayor to identify an entire religious group by the clothes they proudly wear is the basest of insults," Mr. Greenfield explained. "It is even more offensive coming from a secular Jewish mayor. I don't judge the Mayor or his religious practice; surely he has no right to judge me or other members of the Orthodox Jewish community...One has to now wonder if the Mayor's sudden opposition to metzizah b’peh was done simply for the sake of political expediency so he could claim to be standing up to a minority religious community. It's ironic that the Mayor appears to have respect for every other religion except his own."

Mr. Felder, a candidate for the State Senate this November, was similarly offended.

“First the Mayor moves to restrict our right to freely practice our religion," he said. "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.”

Update (1:30 p.m.): State Senator David Storobin, whom Mr. Felder is running against, had a statement of his own:

"The people of my district and the entire Jewish community are deeply offended and appalled by the comment Mayor Bloomberg made the other day to 'The Atlantic', of how proud he is standing up to "10,000 black hats" protesting against his aggressive approach in imposing regulations on metzitah b'peh- an old-aged traditional practice of circumcision. 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. This is the same 'Black Hat' Jewish community that supported Mike Bloomberg for 3 terms."

"I call upon the mayor to retract his affronting comment and immediately apologize to the Orthodox Jewish community, or else be hold responsible and resign from his post."

As did Assemblyman Dov Hikind:

“When Mayor Bloomberg decided to run for a third term, he came to our community seeking favor with the Hareidi community—he asked Orthodox, Torah-observant Jews to support his candidacy,” said the Assemblyman. “ Now when he finds those same people unanimously frightened by his personal agenda and aggressive stance against Metzitzah b’peh, he quips, ‘Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office screaming?’ But we weren’t Black Hats when he needed us.

“The mayor is certainly entitled to his opinion on traditional circumcision but it’s demeaning the way he characterizes it. Metzitzah b’peh is not a point of view—it’s a religious tenet. The mayor is certainly at liberty to take on unpopular issues, but describing his constituents in a demeaning and derogatory way is unbecoming of the mayor’s office. It’s insensitive and it’s offensive.

“Mr. Mayor, my community deserves more respect.”

We've reached out to Mr. Bloomberg's office and will update if they have any response.

David Greenfield (Photo: Facebook)

If there was any question as to which candidate Councilman David Greenfield will eventually endorse for the new, heavily Orthodox Jewish State Senate seat in Brooklyn, that ended tonight.

"I encouraged him to run," Mr. Greenfield said of the Democratic former City Councilman on Nachum Segal's radio show. "The reality is Simcha Felder is the gold standard of Orthodox Jewish elected officials. He's somebody who's been working for the community for years. He genuinely cares about the community. He's consistently delivered for the community."

Mr. Greenfield strongly opposed the creation of this new Orthodox Jewish seat (often referred to as the "Super Jewish" district), declaring it a "Ghetto district" that would dilute the Jewish vote, but said that wouldn't stop him from backing Mr. Felder, whom he replaced on the City Council when Mr. Felder resigned to join Comptroller John Liu's office.

"I'm not a fan of the 'Super Jewish' seat, and I opposed it, but the reality is that these are the facts of life," Mr. Greenfield said before quipping, "If there's going to be a 'Super Jewish' seat, we need a 'Super Jew.' And obviously Simcha's that guy."

He said he wouldn't make a formal endorsement of Mr. Felder yet, but it was more than clear where Mr. Greenfield's heart is in the race.

"I look up to Simcha. I think he's an outstanding individual," he said. "The reality is, I can tell you from personal experience, Simcha is incredibly popular and rightfully so."

A number of other candidates are potentially running for the seat as well. These include including Republican Nachman Caller, who has directly indicated his intentions; Republican David Storobin, currently locked in a tight special election for the New York State Senate; and Democratic Civil Court Judge Noach Dear, who has been reaching out to potential supporters this very evening.

Noach Dear (photo: .nycourts.gov)

Former City Councilman Noach Dear could be about to enter the State Senate race for a heavily Orthodox Jewish seat in Brooklyn.

The news was first reported by Yossi Gestetner, who tweeted Mr. Dear "is calling around friends telling them he is 90% ready" to announce his candidacy. Sources subsequently confirmed to The Politicker that Mr. Dear is indeed making calls about the run.

Mr. Dear's signals come on the heels of another candidate, former Councilman Simcha Felder, signaling his intentions to run for the seat, setting up a potential conflict with Mr. Dear's successor in the City Council. City & State's sources indicated Mr. Felder would caucus with the Democrats in the State Senate ... unless his vote was crucial for the Republicans to hang onto the majority, which would be a big caveat indeed.

One source suggested Mr. Dear's own party loyalty in the election may still be up in the air. His name was floated as a potential Republican candidate to replace Anthony Weiner in Congress even though he himself first ran against Mr. Weiner as a Democrat after then-Rep. Chuck Schumer left the seat for higher office.

As has been previously noted, the Democratic primary electorate in this new Orthodox Jewish seat will be very conservative, so it would be more than feasible that a Democrat like Mr. Dear could run promising to join Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos' team if elected.

To run on the Republican line, Mr. Dear would need the blessing of the Brooklyn County GOP, which is a big question mark as two other candidates, Nachman Caller and David Storobin, have also said they would definitely be running in the Republican primary.

Mr. Storobin, currently locked in an extremely close count of a special election for an overlapping State Senate district that took place last March, might be running for the seat as an incumbent state senator.

Complicating the issue further, the current legislative map is still facing a serious legal challenge, which might shake up the district boundaries depending on the outcome.

Simcha Felder

Former City Councilman Simcha Felder made his intentions to run for the State Senate on the Democratic line clear in today's edition of Hamodia, but there remains a question as to whether he ultimately caucuses with the Democratic conference. The Democratic primary electorate in district is heavily Orthodox Jewish and may very well be just as conservative as the general election when Republicans can vote as well, so supporting the GOP might not be a mortal sin for aspiring Democratic candidates here.

Further suggesting he might be open to the possibility, when he said he would run as a Democrat in his Hamodia interview, Mr. Felder added the phrase, “[B]ut as always, I will work with anyone and everyone who will work with this community.”

And the Republican leader of the Senate, Dean Skelos, has been expanding his outreach to the Orthodox Jewish community and influential social service organizations like Agudath Israel. Indeed, the Senate Republicans were responsible for creating the new Orthodox State Senate district in the first place.

In an unrelated conversation with The Politicker yesterday, Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind sung Mr. Skelos' praises.

"Skelos, to be very honest with you, has really been smart about these issues and supporting things that really matter to our community," he said. "You don't even have to explain it to him, the guy just gets it."

On the other hand, although Mr. Felder might not be hurt politically by supporting the Republicans, he does have a record of indicating he's a reliably Democratic vote.

"I look forward to making sure the Senate Democrats regain control of the Senate," Mr. Felder said during his 2008 primary campaign against incumbent Senator Kevin Parker in a far more liberal district. And, during a debate that year, he reportedly "strongly implied Bloomberg was the only Republican he ever would support."

Other options would exist for Mr. Felder as well. One operative knowledgeable about Orthodox Jewish politics in the region mused the recently announced candidate might very well just refuse to indicate who he'll caucus with until after the election, or announce his support for the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference that has a good relationship with the Senate Republicans.

Some of Mr. Felder's socially conservative beliefs might be at odds with the rest of the Independent Democrats, but a spokesman for the group, Rich Azzopardi, said that anyone who would like to join them would have the opportunity to at least make their case.

"We've always said that if any like-minded individuals would like to join us, the members will sit down and talk," he told The Politicker.

As is usually the case for open seats, other candidates are likely to emerge. Nachman Caller has already made his intentions clear to run on the Republican side of the race, but complicating the whole matter is the ambiguous outcome of an overlapping State Senate district's March 20th special election.

The Republican candidate in that race, David Storobin, has vowed to seek reelection in the new Orthodox Jewish seat Mr. Caller and Mr. Felder are also seeking to represent, while the Democratic candidate, Lew Fidler, simply points to the ongoing litigation over the entire state legislative redistricting plan.

"Maybe some of those folks out there announcing for Senate seats ought to wait until the lines are actually drawn!" he wrote on Facebook last night.

Update: Chris Bragg got the answer, and it's "yes and no." He'll support the Democrats but if his vote is crucial, he'll side with the Republicans.