WHERE CULTURE
COURIER L 10 IFE, OCTOBER 25-31, 2019
STEVEN WHO?
Young Dem changes address ahead
of Coney Island 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 mission-based 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
fresh-faced Democrat has been busy hosting
a fl urry of headline-grabbing publicservice
events, including beach cleanups
, 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 Canarsiebased
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, anti-bullying, 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
Steven Patzer, 22, is running for the Coney
Island City Council seat in 2021. Photo by
Derrick Watterson
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-and-coming 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.
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