Statement on Unauthorized Der Blatt Ad

Posted September 4th, 2009 by brad

On Thursday, August 27, an unauthorized ad ran in the Yiddish language newspaper Der Blatt, purporting to be “Paid for by Brad Lander for City Council,” falsely claiming that I am opposed to gay marriage, and using false and extremely offensive language.

We did not authorize, place, see, or pay for the ad. As soon as the campaign became aware of the ad, we publicly made clear we did not have anything to do with it, fully denounced its gross and outrageous content, and wrote letters to the NYC Campaign Finance Board calling for an investigation and to Der Blatt calling for a comparably-placed retraction (both are available below). I remain extremely angry about it.

My consistent and strong support of marriage equality and LGBT rights is widely known in Borough Park. It has been a public issue in the campaign, on the campaign website and in multiple pieces in the Orthodox Jewish blogosphere (on Dov Hikind's radio show, and on all three major Orthodox websites, in places that are far more widely read and discussed than Der Blatt).

We do not know how the ad was placed -- whether it was someone looking to cause harm to our campaign, or an overzealous and unauthorized supporter who stupidly thought the ad would somehow be helpful. It was apparently written by someone at Der Blatt, and never seen by anyone else until it appeared in the paper. For the record, my campaign has not taken out any print ads in Orthodox papers this year.

Der Blatt, which is the paper of a section of the Satmar Hasidim, had run a strangely similar ad for John Heyer the previous week, with the same language about gay marriage. The paper has since endorsed Heyer. Yitzchok Fleischer (a supporter of mine, but not a member of campaign staff or leadership) acknowledges that he gave Der Blatt pictures that appeared in the ad, but says that he did not write the ad or see what they wrote (and no one at Der Blatt has claimed otherwise). He had no authorization to place an ad, and is not authorized to spend or commit money for the campaign.

Some reporters have been forwarding around an invoice that they apparently received from one of the other campaigns. We did not see it until it was forwarded to us by a reporter 5 days after the ad appeared, and it has never been provided to the campaign by Der Blatt. It has the incorrect zip code, and the questionable customer ID number 12345. We believe it is a fabrication (whether by Der Blatt, or by someone else, we do not know).

Lander Campaign Website Platform & Blog Posts on LGBT rights & equality:

http://www.bradlander.com/ensuring-protection-and-equal-treatment-for-the-lgbt-community;

http://www.bradlander.com/blog/2009/08/14/allies-in-pride

Orthodox media where Lander’s support of gay marriage had been discussed:

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=38457

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com//article.php?p=38752

http://chaptzem.blogspot.com/2009/08/dov-hikind-campaigns-with-brad-lander.html#comments

http://www.vosizneias.com/36974/2009/08/19/brooklyn-ny-can-council-candidate-brad-lander-win-borough-park/

http://www.sendspace.com/file/cwel4v

I also wanted to share the following statement from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle, making clear that they are confident that I had nothing to do with the ad, and that I am a long-time ally and ardent supporter of marriage equality.

*************************************************************

For Immediate Release: Monday, September 7, 2009

Statement of Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle

New York -- Today New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn andEmpire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle released the following statement regarding the campaign for the NYC Council 39th District seat. Both Quinn and Van Capelle have made no endorsement inthe 39th District and are supporting no candidate.

“Homophobia has no place in our city and no place in any campaign for electiveo ffice. The content of the ad placed in Der Blatt is offensive to allNew Yorkers. I know Brad Lander and am confident that he had absolutely nothing to do with the ad. I was pleased that he took immediate actionto denounce it. Any attempt to use this ad against Brad is just plain wrong. I urge all candidates to stop using homophobia for any personalgain, and to engage in a discussion of the issues that are important to the daily lives of voters in the District,” said New York City CouncilSpeaker Christine C. Quinn, New York City’s first openly gay City Council Speaker.

“The contents of the ad in Der Blatt are hateful and demeaning to our community, New York and especially our families. I have reviewed this matter closely and I have personally spoken with Brad. I believe his assertion that he and his campaign hadno knowledge or participation in placing this ad. Political attacksagainst Brad, an ardent supporter of marriage equality, are unfair,unwarranted and have no place in this campaign. When we lob charges ofhomophobia that are without merit, we fundamentally undermine themeaning of term when it is actually warranted," said Alan Van Capelle,Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. ESPA and Alan VanCapelle have not endorsed in this race.

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Women for Lander

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - 8:00pm

At the home of Jackie Sherman
Park Slope, Brooklyn

RSVP for address at nancy [at] bradlander [dot] com

Please join us and find out why so many women support Brad Lander for City Council.

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You + Commonwealth Bar + Brad = Fun on Sept 2

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 7:30pm

Commonwealth Bar, 497 12th Street (at 5th Avenue), Brooklyn

Caron Atlas, Neil Carlson, Erin Carney, Sara Horowitz, Esther Robinson, and Joel Schlemowitz to invite you to meet Brad at Commonwealth on September 2. Join us for a party as we create unstoppable momentum towards Brad’s September 15 primary victory!

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Honor Julian Brennan by Helping Build Schools in Afghanistan

Marine Lance Corporal Julian Brennan, who grew up on 15th Street in Park Slope, was 25 when he was killed in Afghanistan on January 24, 2009. In a remarkable act of compassion, his parents Bill and Thya Brennan are asking us to make contributions to the Central Asia Institute, which builds schools in Afghanistan.