NYC Democrat's mailer decries crime rise in 'negrohood'
theGRIO REPORT - Brooklyn Democrat Ben Akselrod is apologizing after his campaign literature -- which used the term 'negrohood' instead of 'neighborhood' -- circulated in the Sheephead Bay community.
Brooklyn Democrat Ben Akselrod is apologizing after his campaign literature — which used the term “negrohood” instead of “neighborhood” — circulated in the Sheephead Bay community.
The mailer, created by campaign support group “Friends of Ben Akselrod,” says crime has gone up “over 50 percent in our negrohood so far this year” – a reference to a sharp increase in crime in Sheephead Bay under the leadership of incumbent opponent Steven Cymbrowitz.
Russian-born Akselrod, who is vying for a state assembly seat in this month’s primary, has since apologized, called the egregious line a “typo.”
“As the candidate, I take full responsibility for this inadvertent error and I am sorry to anyone who was offended by it,” he said in an official statement.
The alleged oversight was damning enough to cause Akselrod’s campaign treasurer, Bryan Goldstein, to resign.
“I have no idea how this quote got into it,” Goldstein told SheepsheadBites.com, who first reported the story. “It was never explained to me and to my knowledge, Mr. Akselrod does not know about it,” he said before resigning.
Akselrod has not yet publicly clarified the intended word.
