Eric Ulrich Receives Endorsement

By COLlive reporter
Photos: Shmuel Amit/COLlive

Crown Heights community members, both young and old, met at the home of Chanina Sperlin last Tuesday to meet with Councilman Eric Ulrich who is running for Public Advocate.

Participants included Eli Slavin, Eli Cohen, Chanina Sperlin, Avi Lesches, Levi Chitrik, Shlomie Hecht, Devora Halberstam, Rabbi Herschel Lustig, and a few others. The group met to hear why Eric was running for public advocate, what is his platform, and what he plans to do should he win the election on Tuesday.

Eric highlighted five key points that set him apart from all the other 16 candidates who are also running for the same position.

The first and most important item that set him apart was his support for community given the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks.

Ulrich said he sees them as that-anti-Semitic attacks – and vowed that he will do whatever he can to help address this matter.

Ulrich also stated that he was one of the first elected leaders in City Council who strongly objected to the Dept. of Education for the State NY interfering with the education and curriculum within our Yeshivas.

Ulrich himself has a daughter who attends catholic school. So, he is well aware of the issue, and came out in strong support for our Yeshivas and other private educational institutions.

Being a parent of child who attends private school, Eric understands the issue we all face with the rising cost of living, and the burden of paying tuition for our children’s education.

Eric was one of a handful of Public Advocate candidates who refused to submit for the Democratic Socialist of America endorsement. Part of the application including supporting BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel. Eric has always been a strong supporter of Israel, and strongly opposed to BDS.

Lastly, Eric is one of the only candidates within this race who has for years pushed to reform the city property tax assessment system.

“Eric does not understand why folks like the Mayor, who own property in Park Slope, pay lower property tax then folks in Bushwick, Crown Heights and other lower income areas,” Avi Lesches said.

“As many home owners in Crown Heights can attest too, property taxes are only going up which adds to the high cost for younger folks of the community to be able to continue to afford to live here,” Lesches said.

After the meetings, a group of community leaders came together to throw their support behind Eric because of the ideals and the platform he stands for.

Participants of the the meet and greet who have signed onto the endorsement letter are asking and encouraging all members of the community to come out and vote for Eric on Tuesday.

“Given how many candidates there are, one only needs to get the most votes to win. With an extremely low turn out expected citywide, a community like Crown Heights can make all the difference,” Lesches said.