“I am not prosecuting anyone in order to build myself up politically,” Arthur Simon. special investigator for the Board of Health, declared Friday, indignant over the statement made the day before by Magistrate O’Dwyer in Adams Street Court, in connection with the case of Abraham Kaufman, charged with selling non-kosher meats.
When the case was called Thursday the magistrate made a number of harsh remarks in reference to Simon, and later, amplifying them for the Jewish Daily Bulletin reporter, declared: “I want to protect everyone who comes into my court and not build up a political appointee at the expense of a businessman.”
“NOT POLITICIAN”
“I have no political aspirations,” Simon retorted yesterday, also maintaining that the Bulletin story of the proceedings did not present his side adequately. “I am simply doing my duty as a public official to clean up a deplorable condition in the City of New York.
“And in the cases where we have grounds for action, we are going to take action. The inspectors and myself have always tried to be fair and reasonable, and shall always continue to do so.”
NOT THE COMPLAINANT
Simon emphasized that he was not the complainant in the case of Kaufman and the Neboh Kosher Provision Co., Inc. It is Sydney Rosenwasser, an inspector, he said, who is complaining about the Kaufman firm possessing four barrels of non-kosher tongues and four barrels of briskets. Simon stated that he is an investigator in charge of the department and feels that it was unreasonable to put him on the stand on March 15 when the case first came up.
Simon requested the Bulletin reporter to make a thorough perusal of the court record to see for himself the manner in which Magistrate O’Dwyer has been handling the situation.
“Why did he clear the courtroom before making those derogatory remarks about me?” Simon demanded to know.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
