Noach Dear

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Judge Noach Dear is a New York State Civil Court Judge (and a former member of the Taxi and Limousine Commission for New York City). Appointed to the T&LC in 2002, Dear was slated to serve a seven year term. A former member of the New York City Council from 1981-2001, Dear headed the powerful Transportation Committee and promoted commuter vans, otherwise known as "dollar vans," as a transportation alternative while in office.

While representing City Council District 44 Dear served as an advocate on a host of subjects, including strong support for the state of Israel and concern for the issues impacting the primarily Jewish-and heavily Orthodox-residents in his community, which included Midwood, as well as large swaths of Borough Park and Bensonhurst.

Dear was widely seen as a political rival of Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents many of the same constituents that Dear once represented while in office, and comes from an Orthodox Jewish heritage.

Term-limited out of office, Dear launched an uphill campaign for the New York State Senate seat now held by Kevin Parker in 2002. In a five candidate field Dear narrowly lost to Parker by a margin of 909 votes. [1] Dear also ran in a Democratic congressional primary that chose the successor to Charles Schumer in 1998, which saw him face three other candidates, including the eventual winner, Anthony Weiner. After losing that primary Dear went on to contest the general election as the Republican nominee, a race in which he was overwhelmingly defeated.

[2] During his unsuccessful run for the Ninth District congressional seat representing Brooklyn and Queens, auditors found that Dear and campaign treasurer Abraham Roth—a certified public accountant—accepted "several sets of sequentially numbered money orders." The money, purportedly from 47 individual contributors, totaled about $40,000. When interviewed, however, those whose names appeared on the money orders told FEC investigators they had never made donations to Dear's committee.

[3] In yet another ethical lapse, in 1993, Dear agreed to repay more than $37,000 to a private foundation that paid for expenses like telephones in his home and trips abroad by his children, under a civil settlement announced by Robert Abrams, then New York Attorney General.

According to The New York Times, "Richard Barr, a spokesman for Mr. Abrams, said that Mr. Dear, a conservative Brooklyn Democrat elected in 1982, broke laws governing charities when he used money from a foundation he helped create to pay for expenses ranging from calls from his car phone to a plane ticket for his wife."

Dear was never charged with any illegal activity. Of late there have been questions as to Dear's ability to be a judge as he has never practiced law.

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Preceded by
Susan Alter		 New York City Council, 32nd District
1983–1991		 Succeeded by
Walter Ward
Preceded by
NEW DISTRICT		 New York City Council, 44th District
1992–2001		 Succeeded by
Simcha Felder