Charity feels Dov ‘$on’burn
The state Assembly has put funding for a Brooklyn nonprofit on hold after a report by The Post that Assemblyman Dov Hikind allocated money toward the group while it employed his son.
The final destination of the Hikind allocations — to a group known as Our Place in New York, where Yoni Hikind worked for four years — was masked by using the affiliated nonprofit Guardians of the Sick as a pass-through.
The Post has learned that another Hikind son, Shmuel, was also employed by Our Place for at least three years.
“We have a rule that prohibits members from sponsoring funding to organiza- tions that employ family members,” said Assembly spokesman Michael Whyland. “These alleged conflicts were not disclosed and we have placed a hold on pending funding requests for this organization in order to review them.”
Contracts between the state Health Department and Our Place show that Shmuel worked as an “in- house counselor” for the Midwood group for at-risk teens from 2013 to 2016.
Yoni Hikind, who lost a bid for a council seat this year, also worked there as an “in-house counselor” between 2009 and 2013.
Dov Hikind was honored Saturday by Guardians of the Sick with a Legislative Leadership Award after years of helping the group land significant state funding.
This includes $1.8 million in a string of no-bid contracts awarded to the group’s Our Place program by the state Office of Children and Family Services between 2011 and 2017.
Hikind’s office and Our Place officials didn’t respond to e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.