Borough Park, NY – Before an overflow audience of about 300, candidates for the City Council in the 44th district (recently vacated by Simcha Felder) engaged in an energetic debate last night, each one fiercely and enthusiastically presenting his background, views and plans if elected.

The Jewish Press hosted the debate at the Boro Park Y, with a panel of Jewish Press editors asking questions of each of the candidates. Questions were also asked by audience members who passed up their queries on index cards for the moderator, radio personality Nachum Segal to read.

The four candidates—David Greenfield, Jonathan Judge, Joe Lazar and Avraham Shlomo Tischler—were vigorous in their presentations, answering a wide-range of questions about such topics as the problems with local services, the lack of affordable housing, keeping taxes down and the blizzard of parking tickets handed out in the district.

During the evening, Greenfield cited his work in the advocacy group Teach NYS, Judge touted his experience at Community Board 14, Lazar spoke about his many years in city government and Tischler emphasized his youth and fresh eyes as his greatest qualification.

All four candidates repeatedly referred to the specific needs of the Borough Park community and their dedication to the neighborhood.