Lewis A. "Lew" Fidler (May 27, 1956 – May 5, 2019) was a

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 ...

man. In January 2002, he began his first term representing the 46th district in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which includes the

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 ...

neighborhoods of

Bergen Beach Bergen Beach is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It is located on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay in the southeastern portion of the borough, and is bordered by Mill Basin and the neighborhood of the sam ...

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

, Georgetown, Flatlands, Marine Park,

Mill Basin Mill Basin is a residential neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay and is bordered by Avenue U on the northwest and the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet on its remaining sides. Mill Basin is ...

, Mill Island,

Gerritsen Beach Gerritsen Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, located between Sheepshead Bay to the west and Marine Park to the east. The area is served by Brooklyn Community Board 15. The population of the neighborhood is 4,797 as ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...

Career

City Council

During his time in the City Council, Fidler chaired of the Youth Services committee. He has also served as assistant

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

under Speaker

Christine Quinn Christine Callaghan Quinn (born July 25, 1966) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as the Speaker of the New York City Council. The third person to hold this office, she was the first female and firs ...

. Fidler also served on the Education, Finance, Housing & Buildings, State & Federal Legislation, Veterans and Rules, Privileges & Elections committees. He was Democratic State Committeeman since 1992. In 2009, Fidler faced only token opposition from a Republican candidate whom he defeated with 79.2 percent of the vote. Fidler did not run for re-election in 2013 due to term limits; he was succeeded by fellow Democrat

Alan Maisel Alan N. Maisel (born July 25, 1946) is an American politician who served in the New York City Council for the 46th district from 2014 to 2021. He is a Democrat. He formerly represented the 59th district of the New York State Assembly from 2006 ...

on January 1, 2014.

Elections

In 1992 he was campaign manager for councilman Sal Albanese in a failed attempt to unseat congresswoman

Susan Molinari Susan Molinari (born March 27, 1958) is an American politician, company executive, journalist and lobbyist from New York. A member of the Republican Party, she sat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990 to 1997, representing Staten Island ...

in a year Democrats retook the White House. Additionally, Fidler served as campaign manager for the successful campaign of Brooklyn District Attorney

Charles J. Hynes Charles Joseph Hynes (born Charles Aiken Hynes; May 28, 1935 – January 29, 2019) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York who served as Kings County District Attorney from 1990 to 2013. Early life and education Hynes ...

2012 State Senate special election

Fidler was the Democratic nominee for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

being held on March 20, 2012. The district encompasses parts of Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Bensonhurst, and Midwood. He faced Republican lawyer

David Storobin David Storobin (born 1979) is a New York attorney and a former New York State Senator. A Republican, Storobin represented District 27 in the New York State Senate for several months in 2012. Early life Storobin was born in the Soviet Union in 19 ...

. The vote was exceedingly close and a final tally was still not finished or released by Friday, April 20, 2012. On May 31, 2012 Lew Fidler conceded to Storobin following a full re-count, which Storobin led by 14 votes.

Personal life and death

Fidler attended PS 208, JHS 285 and Tilden High School. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Albany, New York, Albany, Rensselaer, New York, Rensselae ...

in 1975, and a J.D. from

NYU School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1978. He was admitted to the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

in 1979. From 1983 to 2019, Fidler was a partner in the firm of Roberts and Fidler PC. He lived in his district with his wife, Robin and their two sons. At 11 p.m. on May 4, 2019, Fidler was found unconscious at a theater in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, and was brought to

Elmhurst Hospital Center Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, is a 545-bed public hospital in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. It is one of the 11 acute care hospitals of NYC Health + Hospitals, a public ...

. He died the following day after undergoing two surgeries, without ever regaining consciousness. On November 9, 2021, Fidler was memorialized with the opening of Lew Fidler Park in Sheepshead Bay.

References

External links

NYC Council: District 46 - Lewis A. Fidler

Campaign website for the state senate

Voting Record and Future Electoral Plans

Fidler Takes 46th District (2010)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidler, Lewis A. New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Jewish American people in New York (state) politics 1956 births 2019 deaths University at Albany, SUNY alumni New York University School of Law alumni People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American Jews