D.I.D. drama: As usual, the Downtown Independent Democrats’ holiday party on Monday night at the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark’s Place was packed. One person who was notably missing, though, was District Leader Jenifer Rajkumar. She also didn’t make it to the club’s fundraiser about a month ago. Paul Newell, her “dueling district leader” male counterpart was there on Monday. So was Yuh-Line Niou, who won the Democratic primary in September for Shelly Silver’s former Lower East Side Assembly seat, besting Rajkumar and Newell, along with incumbent Alice Cancel and two other candidates. Showing no hard feelings, Cancel was also at the Grassroots get-together. Anyway, could it be that after the acrimonious primary, D.I.D. just isn’t big enough for the two ambitious young district leaders? After she missed last month’s fundraiser, Rajkumar told us, “Couldn’t make this one because I was out of town visiting family, a much-needed catch-up time with loved ones after the busy election year!”
‘Big shoes to fill’: On Dec. 19, the Harry S. Truman Club elected Jacob Goldman as its new district leader. This fills a vacancy left by the recent passing of long-serving District Leader David Weinberger. Following the election, the entire community was invited to celebrate with local elected officials. Borough President Gale Brewer, Councilmember Margaret Chin and Assemblymember-elect Yuh-Line Niou were all in attendance. Each division of the district has two Democratic district leaders, one male and one female. Goldman will serve along with his co-leader, Karen Blatt. District leaders are unpaid volunteer elected officials that help pick party leaders, judges and provide assistance in local elections. They are also a conduit between the needs of the community and its elected officials. “I had known and have been a close friend to David Weinberger for more than 20 years, having worked with him at the United Jewish Council, and it is a very humbling honor to take his role,” Goldman said. “As everyone says, I have very big shoes to fill. But I am here to represent our neighborhood.” Goldman is a local businessman, broker of LoHo Realty, and has served in many neighborhood capacities since moving to the Lower East Side more than 20 year ago. He is a past president of the landmarked Bialystoker Synagogue, a past school board member who fought hard and successfully to get the NEST+M school approved and started and a past member of the Neighborhood Advisory Board. He is also a lawyer. His co-leader Blatt added, “Jacob Goldman brings a valuable skill set to the role of district leader…and has a record of local community engagement. I look forward to working with a strong and committed partner.”
Rapfogel’s return: Speaking of Lower East Side politicos and power brokers, we hear from a reliable source that William Rapfogel is about to be paroled — that is, if he hasn’t already been let free. Rapfogel pleaded guilty in 2014 to taking $1 million in kickbacks in an insurance scam while heading the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, the agency he ran for 20 years. He used the agency’s money to buy the insurance at inflated rates in return for the payola. He was accused of stashing $400,000 of his ill-begotten loot in the Grand St. apartment and Upstate Monticello home he shares with his wife, Judy Rapfogel, Shelly Silver’s former longtime chief of staff. Rapfogel, a lifelong friend of Silver’s, was sentenced to three-and-one-third to 10 years in jail, but was granted work release a year ago and transferred to a minimum-security “dorm”-like Harlem facility.
