Stephen T. Levin (born December 3, 1981) is an American non-profit executive and politician. He is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Solar One, a green energy advocacy

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and the former

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

member for the 33rd district.

Early life and education

Levin grew up in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Related to former U.S. Senator

Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the chair of the Senate Armed Services C ...

of Michigan, and former Congressman Sander Levin from Michigan's 9th congressional district, he graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

with a degree in Classics and Comparative Literature.

Career

He moved to Brooklyn and began his career working with the Lead Safe House Program at the

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council RiseBoro Community Partnership, formerly known as Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, is a non-profit organization in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Founded in 1973 by Vito Lopez Vito Joseph Lopez (June 5, 1941 – November 9, 2015) was an Amer ...

. In 2006 he went to work as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to New York State Assemblymember

Vito Lopez Vito Joseph Lopez (June 5, 1941 – November 9, 2015) was an American politician from New York. He was a member of the New York State Assembly, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Kings County. Personal life Vito Lopez was born on June 5, 1 ...

. Levin was arrested, along with

Public Advocate An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

, as an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

in protest of the closure of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. He delivered 7,000 petitions to SUNY officials there demanding that the hospital stay open. In September 2010, he was named one of '' City & States "40 under 40" for being a young influential member of New York City politics.

New York City Council

Levin was elected to replace

David Yassky David S. Yassky (born March 3, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the New York City Council from 2002 until 2009, the chairperson of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and the Dean of Pace University School ...

, who vacated the position to run for

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

, in a competitive seven-way race with the support of Assemblyman

. Lopez helped him secure endorsements from the

United Federation of Teachers The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service teachers and 17,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about 54,000 ...

(UFT), DC 37, the Working Families Party, the New York League of Conservation Voters, Senator

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Congresswoman

Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City i ...

. Most importantly, Lopez secured for his former employee the support of the Zaloni faction of the Jewish

Satmar Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...

community in Williamsburg. That

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

faction provided Levin with his margin of victory in 2009. In 2013, Levin introduced

participatory budgeting Participatory budgeting (PB) is a type of citizen sourcing in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget through a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making. Participatory budgeting allows ci ...

, a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget, to his district. At that time, Levin was one of eight members of the City Council to offer participatory budgeting to his constituents. Levin originally opposed the Rose Plaza housing complex on the Williamsburg waterfront. The project initially called for 20 percent affordable housing and 30 three-bedroom apartments. He then voted for the project when the developer agreed to build 60 three-bedroom apartments and 14 four-bedroom apartments, all priced below the

market rate The market rate (or "going rate") for goods or services is the usual price charged for them in a free market. If demand goes up, manufacturers and laborers will tend to respond by increasing the price they require, thus setting a higher market rate ...

. The development passed in council 18-1. Levin also negotiated an agreement with the Community Preservation Corporation Resources (CPCR) over the Domino Sugar factory redevelopment plan. He has also worked with Assemblyman Lopez to seek federal subsidies for public housing developments in Brooklyn. Levin introduced a bill to reduce fines for street food vendors over procedural violations. The bill passed at the City Council on February 27, 2013, and reduced regulations for them. Levin is term-limited and could not run for re-election in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. His term on the City Council ended on January 1, 2022.

Solar One

In his post City Council career, he has taken on the role of CEO of Solar One.

Personal life

Levin resides in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn� ...

with his wife and children.

Election history

References

External links

Official NYC Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Stephen 1981 births 21st-century American politicians Brown University alumni Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn Politicians from Plainfield, New Jersey Levin family