Sidney Davidoff

Sidney H. Davidoff (July 18, 1939 – November 16, 2025) was an American lawyer and advisor who was one of 20 people on Nixon's Enemies List. Davidoff served as administrative assistant to John Lindsay, mayor of New York City, for seven years. After serving as his assistant, Davidoff went on to found his own firm and work as a lawyer until his death.

Early life and education

Sidney H. Davidoff was born on July 18, 1939, in New York City.Template:Efn His middle initial was not short for anything.<ref name = Roberts/> He was brought up in the Queens neighborhood of Middle Village, and attended Jamaica High School where he was a wrestler.<ref name = Roberts/><ref name="healthnut">Template:Cite web</ref> His father, a Jewish immigrant who came to the United States from Russia, owned a candy store.<ref name = Roberts/><ref name="msnow">Template:Cite web</ref> Davidoff graduated with a bachelor's degree from City College of New York in 1960 and earned his J.D. from New York University in 1963.<ref name="cjh">Template:Cite web</ref> He was admitted to the New York Bar that year.<ref name="martindale"/>

Career

Davidoff was administrative assistant to New York City Mayor John Lindsay for seven years, from 1966 to 1972, having worked on both his 1965 and 1969 campaigns.<ref name = Roberts/><ref name="taxcount"/> Hendrik Hertzberg called him "the Mayor's burly troubleshooter".<ref name="hertzberg">Template:Cite document</ref> Davidoff was a vital figure during protests that sparked in New York City after the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., advising Lindsay on his response.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He served on the board of governors of The New York Young Republican Club from 1967 to 1968.<ref name="healthnut"/>

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.<ref name="harris">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="cook">Template:Cite document</ref>

Davidoff was listed at number 12 on Nixon's Enemies List. He learned of his inclusion while he sat at a bar watching the Watergate hearings. 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."<ref name="msnow"/>

Davidoff worked on Lindsay's unsuccessful campaign in the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries.<ref name = Roberts/>

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.<ref name="cjh"/> He also taught several political science classes at City College of New York, his alma mater.<ref name="healthnut"/> Davidoff opened up a restaurant in New York called "Jimmy's" in 1972 after his time working as an administrative assistant for Lindsay. Lindsay was indicted in 1976 for alleged state tax law violations.<ref name="taxcount">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="sims">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="bragg">Template:Cite web</ref> He was a member of the Metropolitan New York Board of Governors for the United States Olympic Committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Davidoff also had roles in television shows, including the ABC comedy Spin City, and HBO crime series The Sopranos.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life and death

Following two prior marriages, to Patricia Miller and Bonnie Mandina, which ended in divorce, Davidoff married Linda Stasi in 2014.<ref name = Roberts/><ref name="healthnut"/> He divided his time between residences on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.<ref name = Roberts/> He died at a hospital in Punta Cana on November 16, 2025, at the age of 86,<ref name = Roberts/><ref name="empire">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cityandstate">Template:Cite web</ref> due to an infection while recovering from shoulder surgery.<ref name="cityandstate"/>

External links

• Profile at Davidoff & Citron Hutcher LLP
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 1599824

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