Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Brooklyn’s Chinese community have one thing in common – both will be put to the test in the state’s June Congressional primary.
That after her Democratic Party opponent, Yungman Lee, opened his campaign headquarters in Manhattan’s Chinatown yesterday and promised a spirited campaign against the 24-year incumbent in a district that covers both Brooklyn’s Chinatown in Sunset Park and Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown.
And the primary could present the biggest challenge yet on Velazquez’s tenure, particularly with these Chinese-Americans communities politically galvanized by the recent manslaughter conviction of former Rookie NYPD Police Officer Peter Liang.
A great majority in the community feel Liang was a scapegoat for the many black lives lost at the hands of white police in more questionable circumstances. Liang now faces 15 years in prison for the shooting death of Akai Gurley after the bullet he discharged while patrolling the darkened stairwell of a East New York NYCHA development ricocheted of the wall and down a floor where it hit Gurley in the heart.
“Objectively I’m running because I’m from the Chinese community and I see the Chinese community really needs good leadership, and even through we have numbers, there’s no political culture. People give themselves excuses. They say they’re too busy and don’t speak the language,” said Lee, 63, who did a three-year stint in the State Banking Department under former Governor Mario Cuomo.
“But the Chinese community is very motivated right now, and they are politically aware and they make the connection between what’s going on and political power. I believe they will do it. The question is whether they can sustain themselves over a longer period of time . So in the early going I’m pretty comfortable they will turn out,” he added.
Another reason Lee is running is because he feels Velazquez has failed to step up to the plate for many of her constituents across the board, much less her Chinese-American constituents.
“She has never shown up. We’ haven’t heard from her on the Peter Liang case,” said Lee. “We want to her to advocate for us. She has to do something.”
These frustrations are part of the reason why veteran political consultant Michael Tobman, whose resume includes a three-year stint as director of intergovernmental affairs for U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and as communications director for Congresswoman Grace Meng’s successful 2012 election to the House, signed on to Lee’s campaign.
“These frustrations the Chinese have with Nydia are throughout the community. In Brooklyn we have found throughout the district there is a deep well of resentment towards her and apathy about her because of the disconnect. So the community leaders in Chinatown and Sunset Park got together and said we need to do this, and conversations they started with neighborhoods throughout the district revealed the same frustration. In some cases it’s an active frustration and in some cases just deep apathy towards someone who’s been in office looking for a 13th term,” said Tobman.
And in Lee this insurgency found a man who came here from China at 16, graduated from James Monroe High School in the Bronx, and went on to a successful career as a Wall Street attorney, and most recently as President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Bank, which works primarily with small businesses, and has lent over $100 million to individuals and businesses in the City over the last five years.
They also found someone with deep ties to Lower Manhattan’s civic infrastructure through his work with the Community Food-Co-op and the Chinatown Health Clinic with its storefront walk-in clinic being a model for providing primary medical care.
“I’ve always been politically active and this is something I wanted to do,” said Lee. “People like myself are born with a spirit of service and I want to continue to serve my community.”
Other Brooklyn neighborhoods in the district include Bushwick, Red Hook, Vinegar Hill, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Greenwood, DUMBO, Cobble Hill and parts of Park Slope.
The New York State Congressional primaries are slated for June 28.
