Kalman Yeger is an American politician who serves in the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

for the 44th district. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The district includes all or parts of the Bensonhurst, Borough Park,

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, and

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City ...

neighborhoods in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Early life and education

Yeger is a graduate of

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac an ...

with a B.A. degree and

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

with a J.D. degree in 2011.

Career

Yeger began his career as a community liaison and assistant to New York City Councilman Lloyd Henry he then went on to work for Fernando Ferrer as a top advisor. In 2010, he began working as senior advisor and counsel to New York City Councilman

David G. Greenfield David G. Greenfield (born September 26, 1978) is an American politician, law professor, and non-profit organization executive. He served as a Democrat in the New York City Council from the 44th district from 2010 to 2017. The district includes B ...

. Yeger has been a member of

Brooklyn Community Board 14 Brooklyn Community Board 14 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush, Midwood, Kensington, and Ocean Parkway. It is delimited by Coney Island Avenue, the Long Island Rail Road, McDonald Avenue, ...

since 2000.

City Council

Outgoing council person

tapped Yeger, his counsel, to run for his council seat in 2017, as Greenfield decided not to run for re-election, instead taking over the helm of New York's largest Jewish charity, the

Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) is a New York City-based non-profit social services organization. It offers many services to help hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in need. History The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Po ...

. Opposing Yeger, was Yoni Hikind, the son of

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

man Dov Hikind, whose district covers much of the same constituency. Yeger defeated Hikind, 67%–29%. Yeger currently serves on the following New York City Council committees: * Contracts * Environmental Protection * Governmental Operations * Oversight and Investigation * Technology

Controversy

On March 26, 2019, Yeger accused Democratic Minnesota Congresswoman

Ilhan Omar Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota ...

of being an

antisemite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

because of her comments about AIPAC and then claimed that "

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

does not exist". This resulted in protests outside Yeger's office in Boro Park. He was later removed from the Council's immigration committee. On October 30, 2022, Yeger tweeted a video of a swarm of bikers taking over a New York City street, Yeger compared these bikers to cockroaches saying, "Like cockroaches, there's never just one". Yeger received major backlash as a result with many calling the tweet racist pointing out that a majority of the bikers were black and brown. He subsequently deleted the tweet that same day.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeger, Kelmen Living people Politicians from Brooklyn American Orthodox Jews New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members Jewish American people in New York (state) politics 21st-century American politicians New York Law School alumni Touro College alumni New York (state) lawyers 1974 births 21st-century American Jews