Daniel served as a councilman in Ramapco, NY. Apparently it was a controversial term as he often voiced his displeasure over corruption within the administration. He called for investigations that eventually led to a federal indictment against the former town supervisor. According to an opinion piece written by a journalist friend of his, Daniel was broken by the ugliness of politics. He felt "alienated" and "had lost faith in his community". It's upsetting that he saw suicide as his only alternative to all that was saddening him.
STATE POLICE: Ramapo Councilman Daniel Friedman believed to be dead after bridge jump
NY State Police informed the public that former
Ramapo Councilman Daniel Friedman is presumed dead in the waters beneath the Bear Mt Bridge
. A man driving Friedman’s car was filmed on surveillance jumping from the bridge this morning and Friedman’s whereabouts are unknown, police said.
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Friedman, 30, was appointed to the town council at the age of 23 in 2010, following the death of Ed Friedman.
One of the youngest elected officials in the State of New York, he was elected in 2011 to a four year term with the backing of Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and the Ramapo Democratic Committee.
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Not long after his election to a full-term, Friedman had a falling out with St. Lawrence’s controversial regime and became an outspoken critic of the now federally-indicted supervisor. In the wake of the FBI’s 2013 raid of Ramapo Town Hall,
Friedman issued numerous reports highlighting what he said were unethical practices and poor budgeting decisions by St. Lawrence.
# more about his political career at link above
Search for ex-Ramapo pol Dan Friedman suspended
Updated 3:11 p.m. CST Dec. 31, 2016
The search for a man who jumped from the Bear Mountain Bridge early Friday morning, believed to be former Ramapo Councilman Dan Friedman,
has been suspended, state police said Saturday.
Police said
no body was recovered...
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"Daniel Friedman's whereabouts are unknown," state police Senior Investigator Brian Hoff said Friday. "
We suspect that it's him but we're still searching."
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Word of Friedman's apparent death shook many in Rockland who knew and worked with the young pol for years.
# More about his political career
FORMER MONSEY ADVOCATE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF REMEMBERS DANIEL FRIEDMAN
Red flags mean nothing if you don’t take the time to look at them. Now that the initial shock has worn off, I am really going to miss Daniel Friedman.
This past year was grotesquely overlamented in the media, but I thought, being the optimist I am, it wasn’t all that terrible. This was true until the very last weekend. As I was preparing for New Year’s Eve, I learned that a friend of mine had
jumped to his death into the Hudson River. He was 30.
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He had lost faith in his community. It is not something he spoke about openly, after all he was uber- professional. The years following the election, he felt a keen sense of alienation, all because of his idealist personality. I think it is time we spoke openly about the problems of greed and corruption in our community, the same way we have no choice but to talk about drugs and sex to our teenagers. We lost a real hardworking man, and we lost a friend.
# more at link
