With New York City's speed cameras set to go dark at the end of the month, all eyes are on State Senator Simcha Felder, the South Brooklyn Democrat who caucuses with Republicans and whose vote currently gives the GOP default control over the chamber, in spite of the fact that elected Democrats hold a numerical advantage in the Senate.

Felder has been pushing for his own bill, which couples renewal of the speed camera program with the stationing of armed police officers at city schools. Asked about the looming end of the city's speed cameras, Felder refused to answer questions on the matter when he was approached at his Midwood office. Instead, he preferred to talk about baked goods.

"I'd be open to seeing whether you like chocolate cake, for delicious chocolate rugelach," he said. Felder refused to speak about speed cameras on the record, and his office did not respond to further requests for comment.

For their part, Felder's constituents seemed confused about why the Senator would be willing to allow the cameras to go dark.

"What is the connection? I'm not really understanding," wondered Karen Lipschitz, a massage therapist, who's lived in Midwood for five years. "That doesn't make sense to me."

Constituent Fred Braverman, 85, called Felder a "schmuck," but said he'd still vote for him in the fall.

And therein lies the source of Felder's grip on New York politics. He holds a uniquely powerful position in the State Senate. He's caucused with Republicans since shortly after getting elected as a Democrat back in 2012.

But since the Independent Democratic Conference dissolved this spring, and another Republican State Senator left for active military duty, his vote has become the sole vote that hands the Republican Party a majority. And he's faced little to no opposition in elections past, even running on both the Democratic and Republican party lines in 2016.

The religiosity of his district also works to solidify Felder's place in Albany. He is the son of a rabbi, and an ordained rabbi himself, in a district with a large Orthodox Jewish population that's known for voting in a block.

This year he has two challengers. Attorney Blake Morris on the Democratic line and Luis Rivera, a member of the Guardian Angels, from the Reform Party. As ever, the political odds are stacked in Felder's favor.