NYC Councilman Credits Touro for Powering Political Career
Wisdom from Professors Helped David G. Greenfield Jumpstart His Success
New York City Councilman David G. Greenfield routinely regaled his staff with the wise words of his Touro professors. “I kid you not,” says Greenfield, who represented New York’s 44th district. “There isn’t a single day that I don’t use something I learned at Touro. And, I graduated 20 years ago!” That was before he earned a degree from Georgetown Law School, long before he became an activist lawyer and before he was elected to public office - twice.
The seeds of his determination to help others through government and public policy were planted at Touro Flatbush. “Touro provides students with tremendous opportunity and support”, says Greenfield. “They customize the education to your needs.”
Among other achievements, including being class valedictorian, Greenfield founded a political science journal, Equal Justice. “The Dean helped me brainstorm topics, suggested other students who’d be interested and provided financial support for the publication. Next thing I knew, we had a journal. And one whose stories everyone didn’t agree on. It was an intellectual give and take. Imagine!” After his term ended, Greenfield left public life for a new role as CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.
As he has with every professional endeavor, Greenfield will take with him the wisdom imbued by Touro College. “It was there that I learned critical thinking. They taught me about Plato, Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, but they also taught me how these great thinkers’ ideas applied to today’s issues. What a gift.”
