Young Dem changes addresses for Coney Council run
BY ROSE ADAMS
Meet the ambitious, 22-yearold
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 fresh-faced Democrat
has been busy hosting a
fl urry of headline-grabbing
public-service events, including
beach clean-ups , job fairs,
and backpack giveaways.
COURIER L 24 IFE, OCT. 25-31, 2019
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, 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
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-oftowner.
“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.
YOUNG POLITICO: Steven Patzer,
22, is running for the Coney Island
City Council seat in 2021.
Photo by Derrick Watterson
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