Democratic Congressional candidate Steve Stern campaigned for the senior vote on Friday, meeting with residents of North Shore Towers in Floral Park.
The Suffolk County legislator made the stop days before the democratic primary, which will determine a nominee in this year’s race for representative of New York’s 3rd district. The district covers northern parts of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Stern said he has a connection to the primarily senior-occupied residences. During his start as a 25-year-old elder law attorney, he said he frequented North Shore Towers giving educational presentations to residents and talking about elder law issues.
“To be running with that background and having the opportunity to speak with residents here this many years later, it was very special for me,” he said.
Stern toured through the residence, meeting members of the community and engaging in political conversation. Vicki Mazel, a member of the Towers’ political action committee, helped organize the meet and greet. Mazel said of her fellow residents, “They’re engaged and they’re very bright, very politically aware. It’s great that no matter what stage in life they’re in, they remain so engaged.”
One resident, Paula Eckstein, said to Stern about his Congressional bid, “I certainly hope that if you get there that you will understand how terrible it is to be in a Congress that does nothing.”
Stern said to her, “I come from a culture in our legislature where we do work across the aisle, where we can work together to get things done. So when I see the gridlock and inaction down in Washington, and we all suffer because of that, it’s one of the most important reasons why I’m running.”
One of the issues Stern said he will work across party lines on is central to senior health — Alzheimer’s disease.
“It doesn’t matter where you live in the country, everybody has someone that they know who’s been lost to Alzheimer’s or know someone who has a loved one, and every single republican in Congress knows someone where it’s had a tremendous impact,” Stern said. “So I refuse to believe that I cant find republicans from other parts of the country who won’t want to sit down and work in a bipartisan way to find a cure to Alzheimer’s disease because it is that important.
Stern said it isn’t just a concern because of the health impact, but its economic consequences as well. By the year 2050, Alzheimer’s is estimated to cost Americans $1.1 trillion annually due to treatment, caregiving and lost productivity, he said.
“Why that’s so important is that $1.1 trillion is what we spend on our entire defense budget right now,” Stern said. “As a nation, we can’t allow it to have that kind of impact when we have so many other priorities.”
If elected, Stern said he plans to make New York the center of research and development for an Alzheimer’s cure. With resources in Long Island like Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University, Stern said the area has the scientific minds for the effort.
As Chairman of the Veterans and Seniors Committee in the state legislature, Stern has also worked on issues of veteran health. He wrote a series of acts called the Housing Our Homeless Heroes Act, which provides access to housing for homeless veterans in Suffolk County. Stern said he is proud of the bill because since its passing he has seen the legislation emulated in different parts of the state. He worked with Congressman Steve Israel on a federal version of the act, and if he wins the Congressional seat, Stern said he hopes to continue it.
“It doesn’t matter if you are from Huntington, New York or Huntington, West Virginia, or all the way out West. And it shouldn’t matter what your party is, certainly we can all agree that it is unacceptable for anybody who has worn the uniform of our great nation to go to sleep without a roof over his or her head,” Stern said.
Stern has the official endorsement from Congressman Israel, whose seat the democrats in the primary are vying for. Israel planned to attend the campaign stop with Stern, but was delayed in Washington following the House sit-in protest for gun reform. Stern said he has the support from Israel because he is a reflection of party values and has the best chance of winning in the general election.
“[He] knows that in the past I’ve won my elections with strong margins,” Stern said. “You can only win with those margins by having support from democrats, republicans and independents, as well, and that’s going to be particularly important this year.”
Stern is running against four other democratic candidates for the nomination: attorney Jonathan Clarke, North Hempstead Councilwoman Anna Kaplan, former North Hempstead supervisor Jon Kaiman and former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. Stern said he separates himself from the candidates because of his record of keeping promises. Before his 10-year service in the state legislature, Stern said he ran on the promise that he wouldn’t increase general fund property taxes. Since then, every year he hasn’t raised the taxes, he said.
“When you put my record on these issues up against other candidates that are running in the democratic primary, I certainly stand out in a very positive way,” Stern said. “And I think that’s going to be a part of this compelling message, not just now for June 28, but I think it’s going to be an important part of the message to be able to win in the fall.”
