John Liu

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John Liu
New York City Council, 20th District
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 1, 2002
Born	1967 Taiwan
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jenny Liu
Children	Joey Liu
Profession	Politician

For other uses of the name John Liu, see John Liu (disambiguation)

John Chun Liu (b. 1967 in Taiwan, traditional Chinese: 劉醇逸; simplified Chinese: 刘醇逸; pinyin: 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.

Contents 1 Personal bio 2 Councilman 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

[edit] Councilman

He 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^[3], 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 that some view as unresponsive to the public. In his role, many media outlets, including the New York Times, have published the MTA's unwillingness to appear at Liu hearings.

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 Chinese American and first Asian American to be elected to the City Council,^[4] 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 rumoured to be considering running for the Democratic nomination for mayor, after Mayor Bloomberg leaves office due to term limits in 2009.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Government of New York City

[edit] External links

• Liu New York
• Official NYC Council Website about John Liu
• [1]

Preceded by Julia Harrison

New York City Council, 20th District 2002 – present

Incumbent