| New York City's 44th City Council district | |
| Leader Title: | Councilmember |
| Leader Name: | Kalman Yeger D–Borough Park |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 164,339 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Footnotes: | Registered voters (2021) 79,916[2] |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 71% |
| Demographics1 Title1: | White |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 17% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 10% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Hispanic |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 1% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | Black |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 1% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics Type2: | Registration |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 54.5% |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Democratic |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 20.3% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Republican |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 22.9% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | No party preference |
New York City's 44th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Kalman Yeger since 2018, succeeding fellow Democrat David Greenfield.[3] Though Yeger caucuses with Democrats on the Council, he is among the Council's most conservative members and has run for office on both Democratic and Republican party lines.
District 44 is based in the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park in southwestern Brooklyn, also covering Ocean Parkway and parts of Bensonhurst and Midwood.[4]
The district overlaps with Brooklyn Community Boards 11, 12, 14, and 15, and with New York's 9th, 10th, and 11th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 17th and 22nd districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 44th, 45th, 47th, 48th, and 49th districts of the New York State Assembly.[5]
| Members | Party | Years served | Electoral history | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established January 1, 1992 | |||||
Noach Dear | Democratic | January 1, 1992 – December 31, 2001 | Redistricted from the 32nd district and re-elected in 1991. Re-elected in 1993. Re-elected in 1997. Termed out. | ||
Simcha Felder | Democratic | January 1, 2002 – February 1, 2010 | Elected in 2001. Re-elected in 2003. Re-elected in 2005. Retired to become Deputy Controller. | ||
| Vacant | February 1, 2010 – March 24, 2010 | ||||
David G. Greenfield | Democratic | March 24, 2010 – December 31, 2017 | Elected to finish vacant term. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2013. Retired. | ||
Kalman Yeger | Democratic | January 1, 2018 – | Elected in 2017. Re-elected in 2021. Re-elected in 2023. | ||
Due to redistricting and the 2020 changes to the New York City Charter, councilmembers elected during the 2021 and 2023 City Council elections will serve two-year terms, with full four-year terms resuming after the 2025 New York City Council elections.[6]
In 2019, voters in New York City approved Ballot Question 1, which implemented ranked-choice voting in all local elections. Under the new system, voters have the option to rank up to five candidates for every local office. Voters whose first-choice candidates fare poorly will have their votes redistributed to other candidates in their ranking until one candidate surpasses the 50 percent threshold. If one candidate surpasses 50 percent in first-choice votes, then ranked-choice tabulations will not occur.[7]
In 2017, Councilman David Greenfield left the Council in order to lead the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Because his departure occurred after the filing deadline for his seat, local political leaders – among them Greenfield himself – could bypass a regular primary election and instead choose the Democratic nominee for the seat. The chosen candidate was Kalman Yeger, who had previously been set to run against Councilman Chaim Deutsch in a neighboring district. The process was roundly criticized by good government groups, and eventually drew an unsuccessful general election challenge from Yoni Hikind, the son of then-Assemblyman Dov Hikind.[8]