Eve Meltzer-Krief announces bid for Suffolk County Legislature
Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief, a Democrat from Centerport, is running this year for the Suffolk County Legislature’s District 18, challenging incumbent Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, a Republican also from Centerport.
After growing up in Queens, Meltzer-Krief moved to the Town of Huntington in 1999. She has raised two children with her husband, also a doctor. Meltzer-Krief has been a practicing physician at Huntington Village Pediatrics for nearly 25 years.
In a phone interview, Meltzer-Krief shared her family history. Her Jewish mother was born in Paris. Her parents hid her in the French countryside during World War II, enabling her to survive the Holocaust.
When she was 17, an aunt living in New York reconnected with her and brought her to America. She met Meltzer-Krief’s father a few years later. He was born in the Bronx. They had two children, Meltzer-Krief and her brother.
Meltzer-Krief said her mother had instilled in her the many values she seeks to practice today.
“It’s kind of remarkable that despite what she’d been through, she always taught me that everybody is inherently good,” the candidate said. “She always taught me to see the good in everybody and that people are capable of great good or of tremendous evil, and it really just has to do with their life experience or leaders that misguide them.”
In keeping with the themes of her upbringing, Meltzer-Krief has maintained active involvement in various community enterprises, including the Huntington Anti-Bias Task Force.
“It’s just so important for elected officials and educators and clergy to all stand together with a united voice whenever we see hate rearing its head,” she said, adding that it is encouraging to see the task force revamped in recent years.
As legislative advocacy chair of her chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Meltzer-Krief has advocated for gun-safety legislation and against flavored vapes targeting minors. She called these substances a gateway that can be damaging to the developing brain.
She has also advocated for addressing food insecurity among children and has promoted climate change awareness, among other environmental initiatives.
Meltzer-Krief majored in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She received her medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv and completed her residency at Schneider Children’s Hospital of Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She says writing is a passion of hers. She has published op-eds in Huntington Now and The Times Union.
Meltzer-Krief was recognized as the Woman of Distinction for Suffolk County’s 18th Legislative District in 2018. She received the American Academy of Pediatrics Outstanding Achievement Award 2019 and a NYS Senate Commendation Award in 2019 for her advocacy work.
The election will be held on Nov. 7, 2023.
