Williamsburg Community Honors Councilman Lincoln Restler at Appreciation Dinner

By Williamsburg 365 Staff

The United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn (UJO), together with Williamsburg yeshivas and community leaders, held an Appreciation Dinner on Monday night in honor of Council Member Lincoln Restler at Yeshiva Adas Yereim on Nostrand Avenue.

The evening was held to thank Restler for his tireless efforts to expand Child Care Voucher Assistance for children on the waiting list. That push culminated in ACS issuing more than 10,000 new vouchers, bringing much-needed relief to thousands of families in the community.

Rabbi Niederman addressed the gathering, praising the councilman’s friendship and accomplishments for the community, with a beautiful PowerPoint presentation.

“We were pleased to bring together about 50 community leaders and yeshiva administrators to express our hakaras hatov to Councilman Lincoln Restler,” said Rabbi David Niederman, President of the UJO of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn. “His determined advocacy helped secure new child care vouchers for more than 10,000 children on the waiting list, helping working parents care for their children and put bread on the table.”

“His leadership on the Park Avenue rezoning helped advance hundreds of housing units, including 100 affordable units, and urgently needed school space for more than 2,500 students. This is in addition to him and the staff responding day and night to the needs of constituents, should be on safety issues, snow removal, flood mitigation, power outages, parking relief, and what not. This gathering was our opportunity to thank Lincoln for his persistence, friendship, and the difference he makes for our families,” Rabbi Niederman added.

“Tonight was an extremely special and humbling celebration,” Restler said. “I am profoundly grateful to the leadership here in Williamsburg for their strong support and partnership. Together we are achieving just enormous wins for the community, adding tens of thousands of new vouchers, ensuring that families are able to access the childcare that they need, and adding thousands of new yeshiva seats to ensure that the community is here long term. I’m just deeply touched by the recognition and excited for the work ahead.”

Child care has long been a priority for Restler. “It’s another month’s rent for many working families to afford childcare in our city,” he told the New York Jewish Week in 2022. “Expanding affordable childcare options in Williamsburg and districtwide is a pressing priority.”

The voucher win is the latest in a long record of delivering for the community.

Restler led the Park Avenue Rezoning through to approval, making possible thousands of new or legalized school seats and hundreds of housing units, including more than 100 affordable homes.

He helped secure $1.16 million in city funding for UJO in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which Council Speaker Julie Menin presented in Williamsburg last month. UJO, founded in 1966 by Holocaust survivors, serves some 70,000 people and more than 200 nonprofits.

When a wave of antisemitic attacks hit Williamsburg in early 2022, Restler met with UJO, the NYPD and the Williamsburg Shomrim to discuss enhanced security for the community. “The extraordinary rise in anti-Semitic attacks must stop NOW,” he said at the time. “We all deserve to be safe in our community and our office will do everything we possibly can to stem this crisis.” As a member of the Council’s Jewish Caucus, he joined colleagues in condemning the attacks.

In September, Restler stood with Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and UJO President Rabbi David Niederman at the opening of UJO’s new food pantry in South Williamsburg, ahead of the High Holidays.

His office has also planted more than 1,000 street trees across the district since 2022, including more than 400 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint this past year.

Restler won reelection to the District 33 Council seat in November 2025 with 98.4% of the vote, after defeating challenger Sabrina Gates in the June Democratic primary with 75.3%. He has described his role as being a bridge-builder. “I hope to be a councilmember who has enough credibility in different camps that, even when there’s disagreement, we can give one another the benefit of the doubt and work together toward a compromise,” he said.

photos: Shloime B.