Born in Astoria and raised in Flushing, Stefano Loudaros-Forte has spent his entire life in North Queens. He spent his formative years in Astoria, attending St. Demetrios School for grammar school and then going on to St. John’s Preparatory School for high school. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from St. Francis College in Brooklyn.

His family history is the story of the American Dream. His mother Evdokia Loudaros and her family emigrated to the United States from Amorgos, Greece in 1971. Stefano’s grandmother Sophia Loudaros was a stay-at-home mother that raised her four children while his grandfather George Loudaros supported the family by working on construction sites and ships. Theirs is a story of a bygone era in our country — sadly, the ability for a family to survive on a single income is something that simply doesn’t exist for most working-class Americans. Stefano’s father Eric Forte was born in Queens to Luisa Lopez, a single mother who left her family in Puerto Rico to pursue a better life in New York City. All on her own, she worked hard and opened her own clothing factory, eventually selling her clothing through Macy’s and other department stores. Both sides of his family struggled to make ends meet but New York provided them opportunities that they wouldn’t have had elsewhere.

Raised in the Greek Orthodox faith, Stefano’s family instilled in him a love and concern for his fellow human beings. He credits his grandmothers for not only teaching him what it meant to be a good Christian, but for actively demonstrating it as well. Growing up, his grandmother Luisa would take in the homeless to give them a warm place to stay. His grandmother Sophia would offer every child in the neighborhood a free meal, no matter who they were. Stefano took his upbringing to heart and became an active member of his community from a young age. He became a community activist at 17 years old and worked to clean up his neighborhood. Now he is the president of the Queens branch of the American Conservation Coalition, a group dedicated to cleaning up our parks and restoring our environment. (We do a park cleanup at least once a month - contact us if you would like to join us!)

Stefano’s family lived the American Dream in New York, but the city and state that nurtured them and so many others is falling apart under poor government and gross mismanagement. Spiking crime, coupled with skyrocketing real estate prices and taxes and an unsustainable cost of living, are rapidly deteriorating our way of life.

Stefano wants to make a change in our state government so New York can once again be a place that is hospitable to families, small businesses, and all manner of hard-working Americans. He comes from a rising generation of young people who wish to make positive change in our communities.