It is always a pleasure to have politicians visit Russian-speaking Americans; to listen to their concerns and answer their questions. Recently Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who represents Congressional District 8, home to many Russian-speaking people, held a meeting with Russian–speaking leaders at the Shorefront Y.

Congressman Jeffries told the audience of his admiration of Israel and about his recent trip there. He spoke about his participation at the rally in front of the UN building against the military policy of Iran.  Leonid Bard, on behalf of the organization “World without Nazism” gave the Congressman an award for solidarity with Israel and opposition to anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism.

Various issues were raised during the meeting. Ari Kagan asked about the Section 8 program. The Congressman explained that the difficulty in obtaining Section 8 vouchers is connected to the decrease in federal funding for the Section 8 program and sequestration. The Congressman expressed  his concern about the fact that billions of dollars allocated for the restoration of the city after the Hurricane Sandy were not spent for first priority needs .

Well-known businessman, Felix Filler, spoke about addressing the needs of local Brighton Beach businessmen whose businesses were devastated by Hurricane Sandy before spending money on the  restoration of Brighton Beach. He also mentioned that the boardwalk should be repaired.

Galina Gutman of the Senior Center on West 24^th Street, spoke about the necessity of installing video cameras in the Haber Housing development.  Sofia Lobova also spoke on behalf of the residents of the development, emphasizing the fact that the development was built in 1964 and is in need of a great deal of repairs.    

Boris Lerman, President of Holocaust Survivors and Fira Stukelman spoke about financial assistance for former prisoners of WWII ghettos and concentration camps, as well as for Russian veterans of WWII.

Participants of the meeting also spoke about having election documents printed in Russian, using school stadiums for sport activities, recovery money for Nash Jew, a non-profit organization affected by Hurricane Sandy, street cleaning, etc . Let’s hope that Congressman Jeffries heard about our problems and concerns.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the members of Congressman Jeffries’ staff who organized this meeting, Stina Skewes-Cox, Larry Savinkin, Lyudmila Lenderman and Frieda Menos.

Note:  This article was translated from Russian into English by the office of Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.  For the original version in Russian, please visit The Russian Reklama: “Hakeem Jeffries Visits With the Russian Community“*