Sid Davidoff obit

Sid Davidoff ‘brilliantly smart’ at politics, dies at 86

New York’s political community mourned the death of the government relations veteran.

 

He was not on the list.

New York’s political community mourned the death of Sid Davidoff, a government relations veteran, lobbyist and beloved “tough guy” whose roots go back to when he was an administrative assistant to New York City Mayor John Lindsay.

Davidoff died on Sunday at a hospital among family and friends in the Dominican Republic, in the town of Punta Cana where he owned a home and was battling an infection while recovering from shoulder surgery, his wife Linda Stasi and stepdaughter Jessica Rovello told City & State. He was 86.

His death came just a day before the 50th anniversary celebration of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, the law and public affairs firm Davidoff founded, an event which as a result was canceled.

The Brooklyn-born Davidoff was known for being athletic, engaged in body lifting and several sports, including tennis, and was as much driven politically, going beyond his work with Lindsay to advise other New York City mayors, as well as governors. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1960, and graduated from law school at New York University in 1963.

Davidoff worked seven years for Lindsay and was sent by the mayor to mediate and help broker the release of Columbia Dean Henry Coleman, who was held captive by students who took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in 1968. Davidoff also was among 20 names listed on President Richard Nixon’s list of political enemies.

Stasi affectionately called her husband a “wild man” and “brilliantly smart,” having graduated high school and law school at an earlier age than his peers, and at the top of his class. “He went to law school at night, and he did it in three years,” she told City & State. “He was a tough guy, a genuine New York character… who was just the sweetest, kindest person in the world. He was so kind to everyone and so generous to everyone, from his family to his friends to anybody that needed anything.”

Davidoff’s colleagues said the senior executive had remained active in the business of his firm and that his presence would be missed within New York’s political circles.

“He's always been one of the most respected government affairs (professionals) and just a real mensch” said Lou Coletti, a senior adviser at Davidoff’s firm and former long-time president and CEO of the Building Trades Employers’ Association. “He’s somebody who's not only got the credentials but the character and integrity.”

Keith Wright, county chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party and director of the government affairs group at Davidoff’s firm, said that one of his boss’s strengths was seeming “indestructible.” “He was 86 years old, but he thought like a 40-year-old,” Wright told City & State. “And he always wanted to do everything … working up until the end.”

Details on a funeral and celebration of his life are expected in the days to come.

Davidoff was administrative assistant to New York Mayor John Lindsay for seven years. Hendrik Hertzberg called him "the Mayor's burly troubleshooter". He served as President of The New York Young Republican Club from 1967 to 1968.

In 1968, when students took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University and held dean Henry S. Coleman captive, Lindsay sent Davidoff as one of the mediators to broker the dean's release. He likely caught the attention of Nixon staffers following a street fracas between pro- and anti-war demonstrators, where Davidoff re-lowered the United States flag to half-mast in honor of the four demonstrators killed at the Kent State shootings after opponents had raised it in defiance.

On Nixon's list, Davidoff was described thus: "Lindsay's top personal aide: a first class S.O.B., wheeler-dealer and suspected bagman. Positive results would really shake the Lindsay camp and Lindsay's plans to capture youth vote. Davidoff in charge."

Davidoff was a Chubb Fellow at Yale University, as well as a lecturer to the Root-Tilden students at New York University School of Law.

Until his death, Davidoff was a senior partner in the firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, which he founded in 1975. The firm is recognized as one of the top lobbyists in the [[state of New York}}. He later went on to form the New York Advocacy Association, a "lobbying group for lobbyists," designed to counter strict and complicated lobbying laws in the State of New York. He was a member of the Metropolitan New York Board of Governors for the United States Olympic Committee.

Davidoff also had roles in television shows, including the ABC comedy Spin City, and HBO crime series The Sopranos.