All little boys have big dreams but only a few ever work their way into a position to make those dreams come true.DavidGreenfield did. As a child he played in one of Brooklyn’s most crowded and run-down playgrounds —in the 18th Avenue Park — losing patience with the long lines for the one and only swing set. When he got elected to the New York City Council in 2010 at age 31 he decided to make park renovation his top priority. It took the next five years dozens of meetings and cutting through copious quantities of red tape before he secured $5.45 million to renovate the park. “When I broke ground on the project just a few weeks ago and thought about the tens of thousands of children who will enjoy the same park that disappointed me as a child some 30 years ago I was elated ” Greenfield says looking forward to the day when the park will boast not just two new swing sets but four new playgrounds brand-new basketball and paddle-ball courts a new baseball field new benches trees and lighting. As a member of the City Council the Big Apple’s lawmaking body Greenfield considers the $23 million he has already obtained for parks funding as his most significant accomplishment to date. City and State a bimonthly magazine devoted solely to covering New York government and politics ranks Greenfield as the 69th most powerful New Yorker a position from which he should be able to make more of his and his constituents’ dreams come true. I catch up withDavidGreenfield on the steps of City Hall after he emerges from an emergency session to negotiate the city’s $78 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2016. And although I’m a bit jet-lagged following the flight fromTelAviv to New York the day before Greenfield’s energy and enthusiasm level is contagious. While big political decisions are made behind closed doors it is the informal political chatter that greases the wheels behind the scenes. With his black velvet yarmulke Greenfield is one of the most influential members of a political culture that seats representatives of every ethnic and religious community under one domed roof.