Oops! Candidate Frets Over ‘Negrohood’ Crime
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Even with tools like spell check and predictive text, a good once-over can never hurt.
New York Assembly candidate Ben Akselrod, who is running against Democrat Steven Cymbrowitz in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, learned that the hard way. Last week, The Friends of Ben Akselrod sent out a mailer that read that crime had gone up “over 50% in our negrohood so far this year,” according to the Daily News.
Akselrod apologized for the error yesterday in a statement, although he didn’t specify if the intended word was “neighborhood.” On Monday, Bryan Goldstein, Akselrod’s campaign treasurer, resigned over the flap. The mailer was sent to thousands of Democratic voters in the 45th Assembly District, according to Gothamist.
In his statement, Akselrod, who grew up in Russia, said he faced discrimination as a child and does not support “any form of racial and ethnic bias.”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
