Steven is running because he is tired of hearing politicians say what they are
going to do when they’re elected. Steven has and knows, we can create impact, now.
Growing Up in Southern Brooklyn
Steven’s father left when he was 3 years old. He’s the proud son of a single mother who raised two children on a school aid’s salary.
Steven’s mom worked hard for her children to have normal childhood experiences that didn’t rely on sporadic visits from his father. One of his family’s biggest joys growing up was Friday night fireworks in Coney Island. Steven’s moms friends from Parents without Partners gave him additional male and female role models along with other children to play with.
Steven and the other kids would stand on the boardwalk and ask strangers every few minutes what time it was. Waiting for the fireworks to start and wondering what the grand finale would be. It always seemed to go by too fast. There were never enough bursts of red, blue, yellow and purple.
As he got older, he longed to continue the community his mother built for him. As a teenager, he started doing activism work including speaking in classes to raise money for children with autism. He developed his natural ability to organize others for volunteer projects.
Steven went onto Kingsborough Community College, where he was given opportunities to plan events and get involved in leadership activities he wouldn’t have had at larger schools. By the time he graduated, he was student body president, helped plan the new multicultural center, and got a referendum passed that poured a quarter-million dollars annually into student activities. Steven finished his schooling at Baruch College.
Experience
Steven never left Southern Brooklyn. After college, he focused on improving the lives of families like his. He wanted to find opportunities so single mothers wouldn’t have to choose between having a family and pursuing their own dreams.
High housing costs limit the ability to go to school full time, yet the state’s free tuition program requires full-time enrollment. Many in his district feel powerless to change their lives.
Steven actively supports the CUNY system by advocating and lobbying for programs such as ASAP that gives low-income students access to MetroCards and other necessities to attend school.
For cash-strapped graduates, Steven has organized job fairs and contacted employers to get individuals the jobs they need to combat crippling student loan debt. He has gone police precinct to police precinct to arrange safe, secure spaces for Brooklyn residents to sell their used iPhones and other items without the risk of getting mugged or scammed when meeting strangers from online marketplaces.
Steven firmly believes the baseline for a prosperous community is ensuring residents feel safe and have the resources to accomplish their goals. Worrying about slow response times from police dispatch lines makes that feeling impossible.
Steven has worked with police to give out their cellphone numbers, so residents can contact them immediately about crimes in progress and suspicious activity.
Steven has also worked on preventative measures and legislation against hate crimes for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Next Steps
Patzer is running because he is tired of hearing politicians say what they are going to do when they’re elected. Steven has and knows, we can create impact, now. This mission-based campaign will deliver for the people of district 47 long before Steven ever holds public office.
To do so, he’s running full-time for two years before the election. He’s meeting with every constituent he can so that the platform and work he is doing now is shaped by what the community needs. We’ is more than a word to Steven, it’s his way of life, his values, and the way his City Council office will be ran.
With economic development, Steven is meeting with small business owners to ask what he can do now to help them improve business, what he can do to find employees they need, and what will require legislation and city resource allocation when he’s in office. Job fairs throughout the campaign will have volunteers that will help potential employees connect with the right employer.
For teens needing mentorship, Steven will work through community contacts to find speakers who grew up in the district to talk about their successes. In addition, Steven will work with community center coordinators to create fun events and workshops for area youth. When in office, he’ll work on city resource allocation that serves teens in our district including helping them gain work experience and skills that will help them build careers.
On crime, Steven will continue to work with local police on community policing efforts such as giving out individual police officer’s phone numbers instead of having to call dispatch. This action isn’t just about reporting a crime, it’s so individual’s in the community build trust with officers they know by name instead of calling dispatch operators they may never see in person.
Steven also believes building trust extends to criminal justice reform. A criminal past can limit employment for lifetimes. We can shrink the school-to-prison pipeline by creating and building upon programs that focus on giving our community, including those who have served time, opportunities for job training and advancement.
While working to provide opportunities for members of the community, Steven will not forget the teachers and school district employees who were among the first people who inspired our lives. He will fight for fair and equal pay for teachers and to improve the lives of people like his mother, who supported her two boys on the salary of a school aide.
HOW WILL YOU DO YOUR PART?