Council candidate’s résumé boasts turn out to be just hot air
It’s not unheard of for job applicants to embellish their résumés.
But a City Council wannabe from Brooklyn has made some real whoppers.
Steven Patzer (inset) claimed to have an endorsement from a group called “New York Democrats.”
“I was expecting to get this endorsement next year but in light of recent attacks about my loyalty to the Democratic Party, they decided to endorse me now!” he beamed on Facebook in December. “I am so humbled to receive the endorsement of the New York Democrats group.”
The “endorsement” came with a logo resembling that of the real state Democratic committee, prompting a stinging refutation from the real party.
“The New York State Democratic Committee wants to be clear that it has not endorsed and does not endorse any candidate in New York City Council races at this point in time,” it said in a statement. “Social media posts from Steven Patzer and any others indicating that they have our endorsement are inaccurate.”
The real party called the “New York Democrats” group “illegitimate,” and said it “has not received our permission to use our likeness and/or branding” and contacted Facebook to have their page taken down.
Asked for comment by the Daily News, Patzer’s campaign on Thursday refused to answer whether he created the phony endorsement or clarify where it came from if he didn’t.
That’s not the only time Patzer — who’s running for the Council seat covering Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend and Sea Gate — appears to have tried to mislead voters.
A LinkedIn page for his campaign states he was “Chief of Staff to the East Coast director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center,” a prestigious human rights group. In fact, he was just a “development associate” for a few months ending in April 2019, according to the center.
“I was oftentimes referred to as the east coast directors [sic] chief of staff,” Patzer claimed through a spokesman.
The candidate also appears to have embellished his activity at Kingsborough Community College, which he attended before transferring to Baruch College. He graduated in 2018. His campaign wouldn’t state his age.
Patzer says on his website he was “student body president” of KCC. When he was a student there, the student body had five councils. He headed one of them, for business majors, but there was no single “student body president.”
Asked for comment, Patzer conceded he was just president of the business council, but wouldn’t explain why he called himself “student body president.”
Councilman Alan Maisel (D-Brooklyn), a veteran elected official serving the district next to the one where Patzer is running, says he got to know the candidate through a local political club. “He’s stretching the truth. Whatever he’s saying, he’s gilding the lily,” Maisel said of Patzer’s claims about his background. “He’s a flim-flam man.”