Colleagues who work alongside Mitchell Shpelfogel here in the community are reacting this week to the young man’s firing from the office of Brooklyn Civil Court Judge Lila Gold.
Shpelfogel raised eyebrows – and the antennae of the court’s inspector general – in 2006 after reportedly landing the $63,000 a year gig with Gold at 22, fresh out of law school and before he even passed the bar exam.
He was ultimately dismissed on July 18 of this year.
An $80,000 loan made by Mitchell Shpelfogel’s brother Rafael to Gold for her 2003 election bid made the judge’s hiring appear even more questionable.
Mitchell Shpelfogel is the son of controversial Brighton Beach landlord Sam Shpelfogel and is a member of Community Board 15.
No one at Shpelfogel’s Corbin Place home returned requests for comment this week, but Community Board 15 Chair Theresa Scavo had nothing but positive things to say about her colleague.
“Mitchell happens to be an asset to this board,” Scavo told the Bay News. “He attends every meeting and comes early. He seems to want to get involved and is attentive and hard working.”
Shpelfogel is a member of Community Board 15’s Public Safety Committee and was recently reappointed to his second two-year term as a board member.
City Councilmember Mike Nelson appointed Shpelfogel to Community Board 15 both times and characterized him as a “very bright and energetic young man.”
“He has a good attendance record and has conducted himself like a gentleman,” he said.
Nelson says he appointed the youthful Shpelfogel to Community Board 15 in an effort to bring more diversity to the neighborhood group.
“He got a law degree at a young age,” Nelson said. “It’s good to have a young lawyer.”
Shpelfogel is also rumored to be contemplating a run for the City Council after Nelson is term limited out.
If Shpelfogel does, in fact, decide to run for office, he’ll likely have to contend with other challengers like Theresa Scavo and Nelson assistant Chaim Deutsch.
