Steven Matteo (born February 18, 1977) is an American politician who served as Council member for the 50th district of the

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 ...

. He is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. His district is located completely on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

and encompasses the

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

of Arrochar, Bloomfield,

Bulls Head Bulls Head is a neighborhood in west-central Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is bordered by New Springville to the south, Bloomfield to the west, Willowbrook to the east, Graniteville to the north, and Westerleig ...

, Castleton Corners,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

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, Dongan Hills, Egbertville, Emerson Hill,

Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former Military of the United States, United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper New York Bay, Upper and Lower New York Bay, Lower halv ...

, Graniteville, Grant City, Grasmere, Heartland Village,

Isle of Meadows Isle of Meadows is a uninhabited island in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. It is located along the western side of Staten Island, where Fresh Kills empties into the Arthur Kill. The island is owned by the cit ...

, Lighthouse Hill, Manor Heights, Meiers Corners, Midland Beach,

New Dorp New Dorp is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the n ...

New Springville New Springville is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. History Located near the island's geographical center, the neighborhood was founded in 1680 in Karle's Neck, so it was later named Karle's Neck V ...

, Oakwood, Ocean Breeze,

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Prall's Island Prall's Island is an uninhabited island in the Arthur Kill between Staten Island, New York, and Linden, New Jersey, in the United States. The island is one of the minor islands that are part of the borough of Staten Island in New York City. T ...

Richmondtown Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean ...

, Rosebank, Shore Acres,

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Todt Hill Todt Hill ( ) is a hill formed of serpentine rock on Staten Island, New York. It is the highest natural point in the five boroughs of New York City and the highest elevation on the entire Atlantic coastal plain from Florida to Cape Cod. The summi ...

, Travis,

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, and Willowbrook.

Life and career

Born on Staten Island as the youngest of three sons, Steven Matteo earned a B.A. from St. Francis College and a J.D. from Touro Law School. He started in politics by working as Deputy Director of Constituent Services to then-Councilman

James Oddo James Steven Oddo (born January 12, 1966) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Borough President of Staten Island from 2014 to 2021. Oddo had previously served as a member of the New York City Council, representing the 50th d ...

in 2004 and then as Chief of Staff in 2006. Matteo was originally going to be a candidate for the 50th Council district in 2009 but withdrew after the change in the term limits law permitted Oddo to seek a third full term.

New York City Council

Matteo contested a bitter Republican primary for the seat on September 10, 2013, against attorney Lisa Giovinazzo. The party feud led to fissures between Minority Leader

and

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Michael Grimm; the latter was supporting Giovinazzo. The disagreement over the party's nomination in this race led to the resignation of GOP County Chairman and Grimm ally, Robert Scamardella. Ultimately, Matteo won with 55% of the vote. In the general election, John Mancuso was the nominee of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Matteo won the general with nearly 64% of the vote. In 2017, he won re-election with almost 80% of the vote. Steven Matteo took office in 2014 and has had a focus on small business initiatives including the creation of merchant groups in his district. Additionally, he has made traffic flow and driver safety a priority through intersection improvement requests. In 2018 Matteo was appointed to serve at the Chair of the City Council's Committee on Standards and Ethics. Due to the news of an impending resignation from the Council by

Vincent Ignizio Vincent M. Ignizio (born October 2, 1974) is an American politician and former member and Minority Leader of the New York City Council representing Staten Island's 51st district. Before being elected to the City Council, he was a member of the ...

, there was speculation as to whether Matteo or

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Republican

Eric Ulrich Eric Ulrich (born February 13, 1985) is a former member of the New York City Council representing the 32nd district. His constituency includes the neighborhoods of Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, L ...

would succeed to the position of Minority Leader. Matteo was ultimately elected with votes from himself and Ignizio before the latter's departure from the Council. To date, Matteo has authored 22 pieces of legislation to pass the New York City Council. Among his first was a bill that improved building construction standards by requiring mold resistant materials in moisture prone locations of new buildings. This was followed later in 2014 with a local law creating the West Shore Industrial Business Improvement District. In 2016, Matteo authored and passed legislation that would require the City of New York to provide free automated external defibrillators for any youth baseball league that has games and practices on City-owned fields.

Electoral history

References

External links

NYC Council: District 50 - James S. Oddo
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Matteo, Steven 1977 births American politicians of Italian descent Candidates in the 2021 United States elections St. Francis College alumni Living people New York City Council members New York (state) Republicans 21st-century American politicians Politicians from Staten Island