On the Candidates: Stephen Levin

I don’t think of myself as the machine candidate, I think of myself as the candidate of the people.

Stephen Levin has a cold. It is 1:30 pm on Labor Day, and Levin is wearing sunglasses, slumped over in a chair outside of Greenpoint Coffeehouse on Franklin Avenue. Under other circumstances, 28-year-old Levin’s fatigue could have been accredited to a host of things: on Labor Day, most young people are crawling out of bed late into the afternoon, nursing hangovers and recovering from a long weekend full of bbqs and days at the beach, bidding summer a proper farewell. But in Levin’s case, he’s exhausted: He was up until 2:30am the night before, cold be damned, working on his campaign: He is running city council in the 33rd district, and primaries are just around the corner.

“For the last eight months, I’ve been knocking on doors all over the district, from the northernmost parts of Greenpoint to Park Slope,” Levin said. “I’m the one candidate that has made it my goal and my mission to hear from residents throughout, and get the most diverse cross section of opinions possible. In doing so, it has shaped my view of what people need, and what the priorities in this district are. I’m not going out to tell people what I think, but listen to what they want to tell me.”

After graduating from Brown University, Stephen Levin moved to Bushwick to work as a tenant organizer, relocating families of lead-poisoned children out of hazardous apartments, while working with homeowners to effectively and efficiently remediate lead contamination. In addition, Levin spearheaded an anti-predatory lending program in Bushwick, through which he organized homeowners and conducted workshops about the dangers of subprime mortgages. In 2006, Levin became chief of staff to Assemblyman Vito Lopez, a position he still holds.

Though widely considered to be the “machine candidate”—for all intents and purposes an extension of his boss, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party and is perhaps the most controversial and divisive political figure in the district—Levin insists that regardless of his party ties, he is committed to the community and will be a willing and faithful advocate for affordable housing, senior services, open and green space, and responsible waterfront development.

Among his priorities are creating new housing developments for senior citizens using city tax credits, working with the city to protect the interests and livelihoods of both tenants and landlords, advocate for the parks and green spaces promised under the 2005 waterfront rezoning and, “get rid of some of the bureaucratic delays on the city’s part that have prevented the 2005 rezoning promises from coming to fruition.”

“’m a good listener, but I’m also a consensus builder.
My plan is to be an advocate for what the community is addressing. A council member who’s there to listen and take action, and my responsibility is not to developers, it’s to the residents I’ll be representing. It’s a much bigger responsiblility because there’s a trust there. Fiduciary responsibility to my constituents, and not to big business.

My overriding desire is to help people who need help. I’d use the pulpit of that office to advocate strongly and incessantly on behalf of my constituents,” Levin said in reference to his commitment to implementing the 2005 waterfront rezoning promises. “I won’t take no for an answer, and won’t roll over when they say we don’t have the money this year. We need to try harder. A lot of issues are tied to development; you can look at issues discretely, but you take a step back and realize they are very much interconnected. Housing affects environmental impact, businesses affect traffic, traffic affects quality of life.”

In addition to his strong stance on affordable housing and development, Levin has also taken a strong, albeit contentious, stance on the Broadway Triangle: he is in support of the rezoning, though he believes that, should he be elected, he would do everything in his power to make sure that internal politics does not take precedence over results.

“The facts of the rezoning I think have gotten buried underneath a lot of the heated political rhetoric,” Levin said. “In the future I want to make sure that the lines of communication are always open, and that issues like this are kept above the political fray.”

After an hour and a half at the coffeehouse, it’s time for a slightly under-the-weather Levin to head out. But he’s not off to a holiday bbq: He’s back to the office.

“I’ll get sick after September 15,” he said with a smile. “But for now, I’ve got mailings to sort through.”