Career
He is a Republican. His district, the 50th, is located completely on Staten Island and encompasses the neighborhoods of Arrochar, Bulls Head, Castleton Corners, Concord, Dongan Hills, Emerson Hill, Fort Wadsworth, Grant City, Graniteville, Grasmere, Heartland Village, Isle of Meadows, Meiers Corners, Midland Beach, New Dorp, New Springville, Oakwood, Ocean Breeze, Old Town, Prall"s Island, Richmondtown, South Beach, Todt Hill, Travis, Westerleigh, and Willowbrook
Born on Staten Island as the youngest of three sons, Steven Matteo earned a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Francis College and a Juris Doctor from Touro Law School. Matteo was originally going to be a candidate for the seat in 2009 but backed out after the change in the term limits law permitted Oddo to seek a third full term. 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 James Oddo and Congressman Michael Grimm.
The latter was supporting Giovinazzo. In the general election, John Mancuso was the nominee of the Democratic Party.
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.
Due to the news of an impending resignation from the Council by Vincent Ignizio, there was speculation as to whether Matteo or Queens Republican Eric Ulrich 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.