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

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Solar One, a

green energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and so ...

advocacy

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

, and a former

New York City council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

member for the 33rd district.

Early life and education

Levin grew up in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. 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 List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...

of Michigan and former congressman

Sander Levin Sander Martin Levin (born September 6, 1931) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019, representing (numbered as the from 1983 to 1993 and as the from 1993 to 2013). Levin, a member ...

from Michigan's 9th congressional district, he graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

with a degree in Classics and

Comparative Literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

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 Ameri ...

. 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 supportin ...

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 ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

, as an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, 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 cal ...

in protest of the closure of

Long Island College Hospital University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was founded in 1858 as Long Island Coll ...

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 & State ''City & State'' is a political journalism organization based in New York City. The company publishes a weekly magazine covering politics and government in New York City and New York State that is distributed to New York State legislators, co ...

s "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, 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 nearly 30,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about ...

(UFT), DC 37, the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...

, the New York

League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "builds political power for people and the planet." Through its affiliated super PAC, it is a major supporter of the Democratic Party. The org ...

, Senator

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus si ...

, Brooklyn Borough President

Marty Markowitz Martin Markowitz (born February 14, 1945) is an American politician who served as the borough president of Brooklyn, New York City. He was first elected in 2001 after serving 23 years as a New York State Senator. His third and final term ended ...

, and Congresswoman

Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long I ...

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

Satmar Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...

community in Williamsburg. That

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

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. These processes typically begin ...

, a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget, in 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 Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

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 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. 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.

Election history

References

External links

Official NYC Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Stephen 1981 births 21st-century New York (state) 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