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Sid Davidoff | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Davidoff in 1973 | |
| Senior Advisor to theMayor of New York City | |
| In office 1966–1973 | |
| Mayor | John Lindsay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1939-07-18)July 18, 1939 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 2025(2025-11-16) (aged 86) Punta Cana,La Altagracia, Dominican Republic |
| Spouses |
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| Education | |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Sidney H. Davidoff (July 18, 1939 – November 16, 2025) was an American lawyer and advisor who was one of 20 people onRichard Nixon's enemies list. Davidoff served as administrative assistant toJohn Lindsay, mayor ofNew York City, for seven years. After serving as his assistant, Davidoff founded his own firm and worked as a lawyer until his death.
Sidney H. Davidoff was born in New York City on July 18, 1939.[a] His middle initial was not short for anything.[3] He was brought up in theQueens neighborhood ofMiddle Village, and attendedJamaica High School where he was awrestler.[3][1] His father, aJewish immigrant who came to the United States from Russia, owned a candy store.[3][4] Davidoff graduated with a bachelor's degree fromCity College of New York in 1960 and earned hisJ.D. fromNew York University in 1963.[5] He wasadmitted to the New York Bar that year.[2]
Davidoff was administrative assistant to New York City MayorJohn Lindsay for seven years, from 1966 to 1972, having worked on both his1965 and1969 campaigns.[3][6]Hendrik Hertzberg called him "the Mayor's burly troubleshooter".[7] Davidoff was a vital figure during protests that sparked in New York City after theAssassination of Martin Luther King Jr., advising Lindsay on his response.[8] He served on the board of governors ofThe New York Young Republican Club from 1967 to 1968.[1]
In 1968, when students took overHamilton Hall atColumbia University and held deanHenry S. Coleman captive, Lindsay sent Davidoff as one of the mediators to broker the dean's release.[9]
Davidoff appeared as No. 12 onRichard Nixon's enemies list, which described him as "Lindsay's top personal aide: a first classS.O.B., wheeler-dealer and suspectedbagman. Positive results would really shake the Lindsay camp and Lindsay's plans to capture youth vote. Davidoff in charge."[10]
Davidoff worked on Lindsay's unsuccessful campaign in the1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[3]
In September 1972, after his time as an administrative assistant for Lindsay, Davidoff and Richard R. Aurelio, Lindsay's deputy mayor, opened a nightclub and restaurant on Manhattan'sWest 52nd Street called "Jimmy's", named for journalistJimmy Breslin.[10][6] A year after "Jimmy's" was closed, Davidoff was indicted in 1976 for alleged state tax law violations.[6]
Until his death, Davidoff was a senior partner at the lobbying firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, which he founded in 1975.[11] 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.[12]
Davidoff was aChubb Fellow atYale University, as well as a lecturer to theRoot-Tilden students atNew York University School of Law.[5] He also taught several political science classes at City College of New York, his alma mater.[1]
Davidoff also had roles in television shows, including theABC comedySpin City, andHBO crime seriesThe Sopranos.[10]
Davidoff’s first two marriages, to Patricia Miller and Bonnie Mandina, ended in divorce. Davidoff married journalist Linda Stasi in 2014.[3][1] He divided his time between residences on theUpper East Side ofManhattan and inPunta Cana, Dominican Republic.[3] He died in hospital in Punta Cana, on November 16, 2025, at the age of 86,[3][13][14] due to an infection while recovering from shoulder surgery.[14]
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