Frum Midwood Candidate Runs On Bringing Support To Brooklyn’s Jewish Communities

By FrumNews.com

Frum Democratic Assembly candidate Joey Cohen Saban is challenging incumbent Michael Novakhov for New York’s 45th Assembly seat in Midwood, Brooklyn.

Last month, Joey won the Democratic primary uncontested and wants to better represent the district’s heavily Jewish communities of Southern Brooklyn, which includes Southern Flatbush Midwood, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Homecrest and Sheepshead Bay, to get funding and support for Assembly District 45.

Born and raised in Southern Brooklyn, Joey is a first-generation American with a proud Sephardic Syrian Jewish heritage. His passion for community service began as a student at the Yeshivah of Flatbush, where he regularly mobilized young volunteers to take part in projects and campaigns that were important to the Jewish community. After high school, Joey attended George Washington University in D.C., where he spearheaded campaigns combating anti-Semitism and strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

After graduating, Joey returned home to South Brooklyn, where he continued community activism by volunteering in food pantries and working with community shareholders to promote safe neighborhoods and strengthen police relations. A steadfast believer in being active in his community, Joey is an active member of the board of the Sephardic Community Federation.

Joey and his wife Florence live on the same block that Joey grew up on in South Brooklyn, where they are now raising their son Hayim and daughter Violet.

Priorities

Among his primary priorities and policies are fighting crime and supporting our Yeshivah system—both of which are big issues for Brooklyn’s Frum communities.

Joey is running to fight crime and support the police. “Support for our police departments is crucial, and I uniquely understand it as a member of Flatbush Shmira,” he told FrumNews.com.

Joey said he is also running to support our Yeshivos and has met with the leaders of core Yeshivos in the district to gauge their concerns and understand how he can support them.

“As a graduate of the Yeshivah system, supporting our community schools is in my blood. I want to support them and their initiatives, including gaining funding for security, STEM, music and art, while allowing our Yeshivos their curriculum independence from government interference. Additionally, I will fight for tuition vouchers for parents struggling in the community,” he said.

On Eretz Yisroel, he says, as a proud Frum Yid, I plan “to be a guiding light in the New York State Assembly and the leader of the pro-Israel movement. He plans to use his voice to lead initiatives supporting Israel.”

A big part of his campaign has been to make his run on a separate “Pro-Israel Party” ballot line to bolster his chances of winning and to make his campaign beyond day-to-day politics.

“The line would provide a way for people to show support for Israel, to get the attention it deserves,” Saban told the New York Post. “There’s tremendous support for Israel in the district.”

Saban said he has garnered enough local voter signatures for a new Pro-Israel Party to warrant an additional separate column in the 45th Assembly District race on November’s ballot.

“I am running so voters finally feel heard and so we can get things done,” Joey told FrumNews.com. “Including fighting anti-Semitism, stopping crime, getting funding for Yeshivos and important organizations that help the community and someone who listens to constituents.”