Stefani Zinerman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Stefani Zinerman
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| Member of the New York State Assembly from the 56th district |
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| Assumed office January 6, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Tremaine Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 30, 1964 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residences | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
Stefani Zinerman is an American politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Currently, she represents District 56 in the New York State Assembly. This district includes the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York.
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Her Early Life and Learning
Stefani Zinerman grew up in Downtown Brooklyn in Gowanus public housing. Her parents were from Bedford-Stuyvesant. They lived in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn before moving to Gowanus through the New York City Housing Authority. She says her parents helped her become interested in politics.
Zinerman studied business management at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She worked in banking and beverage sales. Later, she became a senior manager for a program that helps adults learn to read and write in New York City.
Zinerman also worked as a pastor. She was involved in community groups like the Brooklyn NAACP. She also chaired Age-Friendly, a program that helps local leaders make their communities better for older people.
Her Work in Politics
Helping Other Politicians
Zinerman got involved in local politics after a program called BEGIN was no longer funded. She volunteered for the Obama For America campaign. She became the volunteer leader for the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
Starting in 2012, Zinerman helped Robert E. Cornegy with his election efforts. When he was elected, she became his chief of staff. In this role, she focused on helping the African American community in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. She was part of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus with Cornegy. This group worked on issues like making the justice system fairer for young people.
Becoming an Assembly Member
Tremaine Wright decided not to run for re-election in the 56th Assembly District. Instead, she chose to run for the State Senate. Zinerman then announced she would run for the Assembly seat. She made her announcement at the Weeksville Heritage Center, with support from Wright. After winning the Democratic primary election, she ran without an opponent in November 2020 and won the seat.
Zinerman is a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.
Zinerman ran for the Assembly focusing on local issues and helping her community. She cares a lot about community health and making education fair for everyone. She supports several health programs for the community. These include programs for healthy aging, community-supported agriculture, and getting healthy food. She also supports doula care, more school-based health centers, and safe staffing for nurses. From the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, she wants state money to help fund schools fairly. She also believes in less police contact and a community policing approach. This means investing more in education and social service programs.
The 2024 Election
In 2024, Zinerman had a primary election challenge from Eon Tyrell Huntley. This election was seen as a very close race.
A big topic in the election was housing. Zinerman's supporters said Huntley represented newer, younger residents who were changing the neighborhood. They also pointed out that he lived outside the district. Zinerman's campaign said Huntley "doesn’t have his hands in the sand with the rest of us. His hands aren’t in the mud because he doesn’t live in this district." Huntley said Zinerman represented groups like real estate developers. He said he would fight for people to "stay in their homes." Also, Zinerman did not support "good-cause eviction" laws, which protect renters from being unfairly removed. Huntley supported these laws.
Zinerman received support from important political figures like Hakeem Jeffries and Tish James. Some news reports said Zinerman got help from Solidarity PAC, a group that supports Israel. Other groups that spend money to support candidates, funded by people like Michael Bloomberg and real estate developers, spent a lot of money to help her campaign.
On May 17, Huntley's campaign filed a complaint with the New York State Board of Elections. They raised concerns about Zinerman's campaign funding.
Zinerman won the primary election. She received 479 more votes than Huntley.
Images for kids
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Stefani Zinerman's signature
