2 Queens City Council Candidates Sign AAPI Letter Against Yang

ASTORIA/LONG ISLAND CITY — Two Asian American City Council candidates in Queens signed on to a 400-person, and growing, list of Asian New Yorkers opposing Andrew Yang’s bid for New York City Mayor, reported City & State on Wednesday.

Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers Against Yang is a growing collection of hundreds of progressive Asian American community members who signed a public letter, and launched a website, opposing Yang’s mayoral campaign, reported City & State.

Carolyn Tran, who is running in the Queens District 25 race to represent Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, and Hailie Kim, who is running to represent western Queens — including Astoria and Long Island City — in the borough’s District 26 race both signed on to the effort.

The letter states that while Asian and Pacific Islander American representation in local politics is important, “representation alone is not simply enough,” adding that Yang’s actions and proposed policies “do not uplift marginalized APIA, BIPOC, immigrant, and working class members of this city.”

The letter outlines eight areas of concern from Yang’s political platform — from perpetuating racist stereotypes and demonstrating workplace toxicity, to taking pro-policing stances and falling short on housing and educational policies.

“There are candidates more aligned with social and racial justice values, with deeper commitments to APIA and BIPOC communities, whose mayoralty would actually benefit our communities, and they are not getting the attention they deserve,” the letter concludes.

While Tran has not yet endorsed her top choice for mayor, she told Patch it was important for her to sign on to this letter “not only as a candidate but as somebody who does organizing work,” since AAPI voters "have to demand policies that will actually improve the lives of our working class communities.”

“Representation is important, but that can’t be our only criteria when we think about who we want to vote for,” she pointed out, adding that AAPI New Yorkers “have a responsibility and a role as allies to a larger multiracial, multi-class movement for social justice. We cannot just allow somebody who looks like us to be elected into this office just because we’re excited to have somebody who looks like us, when his policies would be detrimental to people of color and not represent our communities well.”

Tran and Kim are two of the three City Council candidates to sign onto the letter alongside Shahana Hanif who’s running for City Council in Brooklyn’s 39th District.

Other signatories include Angelene Superable, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s communications adviser and deputy press secretary who is also the executive vice president of the New York Pan-Asian Democratic Club, Senti Sojwal of the Asian American Feminist Collective, Vicki Niu of Asians 4 Abolition, and other business owners, activists, and community members.

AAPI New Yorkers can sign the letter here, and everyone can read it here.