Democratic Candidate Steven D. Patzer for the District 47 City Council race to replace term-limited Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate) has pulled out way ahead in raising funds with $20,550, while his opponents haven’t come close.
Patzer said that he’s not a centrist, but doesn’t think there’s a need for ideological labels like progressive, moderate, or conservative to tackle local problems. The Gravesend resident has taken on a wide range of issues in the district; such as housing, criminal justice reform, small businesses, storm infrastructure, transportation, veterans and seniors, health care, and the most prominent one that Treyger has been engrossed in, education and the COVID-19 crisis.
Patzer said that he and his team volunteered to deliver 7,000 care packages door-to-door with WHO instructions for staying healthy, held virtual events with experts, and donated over 30,000 digital SHSAT test prep courses and K-8 digital help during the course of the COVID-19 health pandemic in the city.
“I served as a board member at Kingsborough Community College from 2015 to 2016. Our team has an education reporter with 10 years of experience researching and writing on national education policies and advice for families. We also have a United Nations ‘WHO’ [World Health Organization] representative advising us who currently works for the NYC Department of Health,” said Patzer about his experience in education.
Patzer said his district also has a lot of nursing homes and elderly residents and the impact of COVID was devastating. “I think the City, State, and Federal response should be fully investigated by the respective legislatures and must improve for future outbreaks and pandemics,” said Patzer.
In regard to public safety and the rising rates of gun violence this year Patzer said he’s working on preventative measures.
“We’re in a gun violence crisis. In the past week, two people were shot dead in Coney Island. I’d organize events such as gun buybacks and support organizations such as The Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative and Operation H.O.O.D.. I’d also work to improve social services and mental health counseling access. In addition, we are hosting job fairs where those with criminal records are able to seek and gain employment. I’m also open to ideas from community members on how we can best rid our neighborhoods from the plague of gun violence,” said Patzer.
Patzer said that the “common sense” diaphragm amendments to the chokehold bill, in the end, should be to hold reckless officers accountable and not incriminate each one making an arrest. He said he’s also opposed to a general police hiring freeze that is not based on a financial burden.
“I understand and empathize with the pain that our communities are feeling, but simply cutting officers isn’t going to bring meaningful criminal justice reform,” said Patzer.
Lastly, Patzer said he’d hold developers to account and negotiate to bring housing to the district that the respective community can actually afford. “Councilmembers have a lot of power over Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) processes and should use it when appropriate. I think the City can also do a lot to increase affordable units by cutting bureaucratic red tape and working with homeowners to subsidize the costs of legalizing basement apartments,” said Patzer.
“I am concerned about any private element going into [New York City Housing Authority] NYCHA which doesn’t have the best interest of residents at heart,” said Patzer about NYCHA issues like selling off playgrounds and parking lots to real estate developers. “While NYCHA does have a tremendous repair backlog, the answer won’t be to give away resident’s public space in order to pay for them. My goal is to talk to residents on the ground and see how they feel about any changes that private parties bring into NYCHA and then act accordingly.”
Candidate Alec Brook-Krasny, the former assembly member who was exonerated of fraud charges, confirmed that he’s definitely still in the race but said he hasn’t focused on gathering any campaign money or formed a stance on policies yet.
Krasny did, however, firmly note that he feels no trepidation getting back into politics after the conclusion of his months-long trial in July 2019. “I have experience in every part of my community life, business, I’m an immigrant, father of three. I’m always running with the needs of the community. Other than that, not much else is important.”
The dubbed ‘Comeback Kid’ Krasny said the investigation was terrible but he was validated by a jury of his peers so he has no worries about it.
Joe Packer, who is also listed as running for the city in council district on the city’s Campaign Finance Board website, couldn’t be reached for comment.
