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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, OCTOBER 27, 2019
Steven who? Young Dem steps into Coney council race
BY ROSE ADAMS
Meet the ambitious,
22-year-old politico from
Georgetown who’s running
for City Council — in
Coney Island!
Young gun out-of-towner
Steven Patzer wants Coney
Islanders to know he’s their
man for Council, proclaiming
concrete solutions to
the community’s issues and
boasting “10 years” leadership
experience — starting
at 12 years old!
“Steven’s early missionbased
and community service
work was as a... Cub
Scout” said Reyna Gobel,
a communications director
of Patzer’s campaign.
“By 16, he was raising
money for causes. At 17, he
started more intensive political
work lobbying, canvassing,
and involvement
in larger community projects.”
A life-long Georgetown
resident, Patzer moved
to Gravesend in June to
campaign for the seat
that term-limited Coney
Island Councilman Mark
Treyger will vacate at the
end of 2021, and the freshfaced
Democrat has been
busy hosting a fl urry of
headline-grabbing publicservice
events, including
beach clean-ups , job fairs,
and backpack giveaways.
And while the legislator
representing Patzer’s
home district, Councilman
Alan Maisel, is also
due to step down in tandem
with Treyger, Patzer
believes he’s a better fi t for
the People’s Playground,
claiming a keen understanding
of local issues.
“I see two big issues
in Coney Island and Gravesend,
and that’s parking
and resources for people
in public housing,” Patzer
said.
The fl edgling Democrat
described a platform
that includes building numerous
multi-story parking
garages, hosting public
events to improve the
relationship between community
members and law
enforcement, and creating
a volunteer program for
residents to clean-up public
housing.
He supports the construction
of new bike
lanes — as long as they
don’t take away free public
parking.
Patzer, who graduated
from Baruch College
with a bachelor’s in public
affairs in 2018, boasts
an impressive resume —
for a young man. He currently
serves as the president
of the Canarsie-based
Thomas Jefferson Young
Democrats, he was formerly
Chief of Staff to the
director of the Jewish human
rights organization
Simon Wiesenthal Center,
and was appointed to
Kingsborough College’s
Board of Directors at 17.
He brands himself as
an “educator,” who lectures
on topics including
fi nancial literacy, antibullying,
and anti-Semitism
to K-12th grade and
college students.
At 19 years old, Pazter
authored a self-help
book entitled “Six Figure
Secrets,” in which he
claims to hand readers
“the keys to the Ferrari
that has driven countless
multimillionaires down
the road of success,” and
refers to himself as an entrepreneur
specializing in
“credibility,” among other
things. He further claims
more than four years experience
“coaching creative
money management,” and
boasts that he is “widely
known for his extensive...
leadership experience,” in
the title’s “About the Author”
section.
Some locals are wary
of the ambitious, would-be
councilman from Georgetown,
mistrusting his
grandiose claims and
doubting his fi tness for
public service.
“He suddenly appeared
in the community,” said
Coney Islander Orlando
Mendez. “He’s taking advantage
of the up-andcoming
seat.”
Joe Packer, a lifelong
Coney Island resident also
running for Treyger’s
seat, questioned Patzer’s
decision to run in Coney
Island — two districts
away from his hometown.
“He’s a carpetbagger,
that’s all I can say,” Packer
said. “I would never try
to go to another location
when I know my community
has needs.”
An anonymous Brooklyn
political insider also
called Patzer’s motives for
running into question.
“It’s hard to take someone
serious when they
opened a campaign account
in a district that
they haven’t lived in and
have no history of serving,”
he said.
But an acquaintance
of Patzer and fellow politico
spoke highly of Patzer,
saying voters couldn’t go
wrong with the hustling
out-of-towner.
“He’s extremely hardworking,”
said Nikki Lucas,
whom Patzer helped
with her District Leader
campaign in Canarsie,
which she lost to Inez Barron.
“He was an asset, he
was profi cient, and he was
extremely dependable.”
Patzer categorically
denied accusations that
his council run is motivated
by self interest, saying
the hard work he’s put
in ahead of his upcoming
campaign proves his heart
is in the right place.
“I have no fi nancial
gain to be made from volunteering
in the community
for two years before
the election,” Patzer said.
Steven Patzer, 22, is running for
the Coney Island City Council
seat in 2021.
Photo by Derrick Watterson
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