Introduction
Simcha Eichenstein is an American politician from New York. He is a member of the New York State Assembly.
Early life
Simcha Eichenstein was born in August 1983 to a rabbi from a prominent Bobover rabbinical family in Borough Park, Brooklyn, where he grew up and attended yeshivas.
In July, 2011, Eichenstein, by then a known political operative, was at the front lines of the search for the suspect in the murder of Leiby Kletzky. His wife helped to identify Levi Aron through her job as a receptionist at the dentist's office that Aron was a patron of.
Political career
Eichenstein started his career as an aide to political consultant Ezra Friedlander.
From 2011 till 2015, Eichenstein was the senior adviser to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Following this he was director of political and governmental services to the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio.
On April 26, 2018, Eichenstein announced his candidacy for the open New York State Assembly District 48 seat, covering most of Borough Park and part of Midwood, Brooklyn, being vacated by Dov Hikind. He won the seat unopposed in the general election, becoming the first Hasidic lawmaker from Brooklyn elected to any level of government. As Hikind's handpicked successor, Eichenstein was considered to be the front-runner in the race, running unopposed as the Democratic candidate in the primary election in September 2018. His candidacy was supported by Rebbes of various Hasidic sects, including Bobov, Satmar, Ger and Belz.
Eichenstein seeks to dispel any preconceived notions people may have about the Hasidim, their way of life and the yeshiva system and strongly opposes government mandating secular education in Hasidic schools.
Committees
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie appointed Eichenstein to serve on a number of committees, including Aging, Cities, Housing, Real Property Taxation and Social Services. Eichenstein serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on Outreach and Oversight of Senior Citizen Programs.
Personal life
Eichenstein is married, and the father of four children. He is a lifelong resident of Borough Park.