John Liu

Infobox Officeholder


name = John Liu
caption =
order =
title = New York City Council, 20th District
term_start = January 1 2002
term_end =
deputy =
predecessor =
successor = Incumbent
birth_date = 1967
birth_place = Taiwan
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
education = Binghampton University
party = Democratic
spouse = Jenny Liu
children = Joey Liu
profession = Politician
religion =


footnotes =:"For other uses of the name John Liu, see John Liu (disambiguation)"

John Chun Liu (b. 1967 in Taiwan, zh-tsp|t=|s=|p=Liú Chúnyì) is a New York City elected official, currently serving on the New York City Council representing District 20. He was elected in 2001 to represent northeast Queens (Flushing, Queensboro Hill, Mitchell Gardens, Kissena Park, Harding Heights, Auburndale, part of Whitestone) and was re-elected in 2005.

Personal bio

At the age of five his family moved to United States from Taiwan. Chang F. Liu, his father, changed Liu's first name from Chun to John in honour of John F. Kennedy. His brothers became Robert and Edward, while his father became Joseph.cite news| last =O'Donnell| first =Michelle| title =Political Trailblazer Is Quick to a Microphone| publisher =The New York Times| date =2006-04-22 | url =http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/nyregion/22liu.html?pagewanted=all | accessdate =2007-09-09 ]

Liu is married to Jenny Liu, an engineer, and has one son, Joey. He resides in Flushing, near where he grew up. He attended New York City public schools, graduating from the Bronx High School of Science in 1985. He attended Binghamton University, a part of the SUNY system, where he majored in Mathematical Physics. He graduated in 1988. He worked as a manager at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before his election to the City Council. [ [http://www.liunewyork.com/index.html Liu website] ]

Councilman

Liu is Chair of the Council's Transportation Committee and also serves on committees on Education, Consumer Affairs, Contracts, Oversight & Investigations and Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, despite not being a resident of any city council district near Lower Manhattan.

The Council's Committee on Transportation [ [http://www.nyccouncil.info/issues/committee.cfm?committee_id=79&ltsbdkey=29 transportation committee] ] , focuses public policy on the critical role transportation options play in economic development and access to jobs. As Chair, Liu has sought more accountability from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a large state agency viewed as being unresponsive to the public.

Liu has enacted legislation improving safety for pedestrians and has initiated public works projects to improve vehicular traffic flow and ease congestion. He has also developed programs bringing licensed taxicabs ("Yellow" cabs) to areas outside of Manhattan.

As a member of the Council's Committee on Education, Liu has worked with dozens of other local politicians on raising standards in public schools, increasing reliance and trust in teachers and investing city resources in education, in areas such as high-tech upgrades to local schools. Liu is the first Taiwanese-American and first Asian-American to be elected to the City Council,cite web|url=http://www.asianweek.com/2000_05_25/news_johnliu.html|title=Building Trust: Candidate vies to become first API New York City Council member|publisher=AsianWeek|date=2000-05-25|accessdate=2007-11-08] Liu works for increased access to government for Asian-Americans. He is known for his many press releases and media advisories, sometimes sending out 2-3 press releases a day. The Daily Politics, a well-known NYC political blog noted that Liu sent out more press releases per month than US Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, besting her by 5 releases per month.

He also speaks out against racial stereotyping and discrimination, particularly regarding Asian minorities.

He is widely rumored to be considering running for the Democratic nomination for mayor, after Mayor Bloomberg leaves office due to term limits in 2009.

Recently, Liu has been involved in a minor bit of controversy with The Epoch Times, a media outlet for Falun Gong propaganda. The Epoch Times targeted Liu after he met with constituents complaining of the slanderous tactics used by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times. The controversy began on May 17, 2008, when heated verbal and physical altercations during a demonstration by Falun Gong supporters in Liu's district. A counter-demonstration, which resulted in twelve arrests, was provoked by statements by the Falun Gong supporters that the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake a punishment on China by God for the Chinese Communist Party. The Epoch Times further incited the crowd by printing pictures of the counter-demonstrators with captions suggesting they were child molesters or lived similar "dirty" lifestyles. Agitated, the pictured counter-demonstrators lashed out against the Epoch Times reporters, who subsequently reported these incidents as "mob violence against Falun Gong practitioners".

Waldheim Rezoning Controversy

Since 2007, Liu has been targeted by lobbyists hired by the New York Armenian Home regarding the rezoning of the Waldheim neighborhood of Flushing. [http://www.nyc.gov/lobbyistsearch/search?client=New+York+Armenian+Home] The proposed Waldheim rezoning plan will allow the Armenian Home to build a nineteen-story residential skyscraper with 40% more capacity than allowed for by current zoning. [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/cpc/080457.pdf] [http://www.tenant.net/Other_Laws/zoning/zonch03.html] The plan also increases the zoning of irregular swaths of land within residential districts that are otherwise decreased in zoning. [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/cpc/080457.pdf] Residents oppose the rezoning out of concerns that it will bring even more traffic into the area and further strain the neighborhood's civil infrastructure, noting that the rezoning plan has not undergone environmental- and traffic-impact review. Liu has not responded to such claims, nor has he addressed the influence the New York Armenian Home has had on his decision to support the rezoning plan.

Asian Political Leadership Fund

Liu is a co-founder of the [http://asianleader.org/ Asian Political Leadership Fund] , a federally-designated 527 fund whose purpose is to promote political leadership from within the Asian-American community.

References

ee also

* Government of New York City

External links

* [http://www.liunewyork.com/ Liu New York]
* [http://council.nyc.gov/d20/html/members/home.shtml Official NYC Council Website about John Liu]
* [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=55624]
* [http://asianleader.org/ Asian Political Leadership Fund]