Menachem “Mendy” Raitport is again battling incumbent Jesse Hamilton for the 20th District Senate Seat.
Raitport was defeated by Hamilton in 2014 when he first ran for the position. Since then Hamilton has been the Senator for the District. Now Raitport is running against Hamilton on the Conservative and Republican party lines. In 2015, Raitport ran for New York State Assembly in District 43 – also on the GOP and Conservative Party lines.
Raitport, a father of eight, has lived in Crown Heights for 25 years. He owns Crown Kosher Meat Market on Kingston Avenue, where he works as a butcher. Raitport says as a business owner he is concerned about all the stores he sees closing locally.
“I don’t like that our community is being ignored for job creation. We see stores closing down. Our youth are not getting job training, why not?” said Raitport.
If elected Raitport plans to bring affordable housing, job training, help with small businesses, and better education for our youth.
“I want to give incentives to the builders to make affordable housing. I want to open up centers to train the youth, the unemployed and the underemployed in mechanics, auto repair, plumbing and other skills to give them a better life and keep them out of trouble. I will help small businesses by bringing in youth and training them in jobs and also by giving businesses tax breaks. I will bring competition amongst schools. I don’t want parents to be locked in on which school their children attend. They should be able to pick what school their child will attend. Allowing this choice will motivate schools to improve their standards of education in order to encourage students to come to their schools,” Raitport said.
Raitport says Hamilton has not done much for the community.
“He has been involved in politics for a long time, however, what has he done to improve the community at large? Other than marching and speaking at rallies I have not seen him do a lot for the community,” said Raitport.
The 20th District includes Crown Heights, Park Slope and Sunset Park.
Jesse Hamilton’s office couldn’t be reached for a comment.
