Civic Center Residents Coalition Jan Lee on "the Races" 2013 - Downtown Express - Undercover

Under Cover, May 15, 2013 The Downtown Express

Jan Lee        Photo: CCRCNYC.com

May 15, 2013 | Filed under: Under Cover | Posted by: admin

Lee on the Races  

Chinatown leader Jan Lee has had his share of political fights with Margaret Chin over the years so we were surprised last week when he told us he hasn’t ruled out supporting her reelection bid to the City Council.

“Margaret and I are certainly cordial,” he told us, saying their disagreements have always been about issues. Lee, a founder of the Civic Center Residents Coalition, fought against the creation of the Chinatown Business Improvement District, which Chin strongly supported.

“We need to talk in a very candid way about the next four years on how she would improve,” Lee added.

His biggest concern is neighborhood traffic problems caused by several things including the security closure of Park Row. He said he has been dealing with family issues, but he hopes to be able to speak sometime soon with Chin and her Democratic primary opponent,Jenifer Rajkumar.

He has flirted in the past with running himself, but said he definitely will not be on the ballot this year.

In other races, Lee is backing Comptroller John Liu for mayor and Julie Menin for borough president.  He praised Liu’s work exposing the CityTime scandal, and Menin’s effort helping to get the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial moved out of Lower Manhattan.

“We really connected on that issue,” he said of Menin. “I find her to be a good problem solver and not just a complainer.”

Chin Notes  

Speaking of Councilmember Margaret Chin, we had been thinking she scheduled her announcement strategically around the time of Downtown Independent Democrats’ fundraiser in Battery Park City to lessen the chance of naysayers attending, but even Chin critic and D.I.D. veteran Sean Sweeney, who often ascribes ulterior motives to opponents, said there was nothing to the theory.

Sweeney said Chin showed up to the fundraiser right after the announcement and “she gave more [of a donation] than the average politician gave.”

He did take a dig at Chin, pointing out she did not win the Coalition for a District Alternative endorsement that she won four years ago. CoDA voted not to endorse, but its most powerful member, Councilmember Rosie Mendez,  is backing Chin.

Chin’s campaign spokesperson, Austin Finan, laughed at the notion that Chin is weaker without CoDA.  “Whatever makes them sleep at night,” he told us.

He said in addition to support from Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver and Cong. Nydia Velazquez, Chin will be getting nods from most if not all of the local elected officials.

“We’re stretching it out so to speak,” Finan said.

City Move  

A last quick one on Margaret Chin. Amy Varghese has just joined her staff as the new communications director. She replaces Kelly Magee, who is now working in the press office at the Dept. of Buildings.

Rockwell,  Imagination & Reality   

We were recalling the hoopla that began five years ago when renowned local architectDavid Rockwell started talking about designing — at no cost — a new Downtown playground with professional playmates (Rated G of course), a k a “play associates,” to help children interact with innovative, movable equipment.

We paid a visit the other day with a 3-year-old source close to UnderCover to see how the promise of Imagination Playground was holding up three years after opening.

The playmate at the Seaport park did not seem to do any sort of play facilitation, which seemed fine since perhaps it’s better for kids to, well, use their own imagination.

Rockwell’s large and light building blocks are more than a nice touch, although creativity apparently extends only so far since we were told to bring one of them back to the approved block play area.

Overall, the design puts the playground above most in the city, but what really sets it apart is the well-maintained bathroom and the extremely clean sandbox — no small measure considering pediatricians and public health experts will tell you that germ-wise, sandboxes are the most hazardous part of a playground.

Bike Monitors  

We noticed city Dept. of Transportation workers Tuesday holding up stop signs on the Ninth Ave. bike lane when the bike lights turned red. D.O.T.’s Scott Gastel said the rush hour program started last month and is part of the city’s effort to make sure things are safer when the new bike share program rolls out Memorial Day.

Bill Thompson, John Liu and Margaret Chin rallying in Chinatown Senior Center

Yuet Hing Wong, a senior at the Chinatown Senior Center on Bayard Street speaks to WNYC reporter Arun Venugopol about why she will vote for Bill Thompson on Tuesday.

"I read about his record and I think he is qualified for this job" she said.

Margaret Chin, John Liu and Bill Thompson greeted by seniors today escorted by President of Lin Sing Association James Wong and Executive of Lin Sing Eddie Chiu on the loud speaker.

The seniors at the Chinatown Senior Center at Bayard Street enthusiastically welcomed Bill Thompson as he campaigned today with John Liu and Margaret Chin.

No shortage of smiles and enthusiastic handshakes for Bill Thompson, John Liu and Margaret Chin in Chinatown today.

John Liu answers Daily News accusations

The following letter was sent to friends and supporters of Comptroller candidate John Liu in response to the recent Daily News article which, in effect, accuses Liu of lying about his past experience working as a young person in a Chinatown sweatshop.

As one Chinatown resident explains "Historically many U.S. immigrants toiled at sweatshops or in sweatshop like conditions in order to keep a roof overhead and food on the table -- unfortunately it was ingrained in many to keep quiet about the long hours, low pay, lack of overtime or risk getting their bosses into trouble or themselves fired. Sadly such choices continue to be faced by many immigrants today."



Dear Friend,

We all know that sweatshops exist – even in our modern ethical society
– but no one talks openly about it, especially not people who have
worked in factories. And many people, including journalists, simply
do not understand how these illegal industries operate.

Today's Daily news article (text in-full at end of message), "City
controller hopeful John Liu touts youth in sweatshop - only family
says it never happened", is a case-in-point.

What began as a profile suddenly turned into a misleading piece of
'gotcha' journalism. A reporter asked for an interview with my
parents to talk about my childhood, and we gave her unfettered access.
My mom was very reluctant and embarrassed to talk about her
experience working in the garment industry.

After the interview, the reporter asked me for a paystub to prove I
actually worked in the factory. We attempted to explain to the
journalist how sweatshops actually work. Unfortunately, we were
unable to dislodge her preconceived ideas about how illegal practices
in the garment industry work.

Not all sweatshops look like a scene from 'Norma Rae' or other
Hollywood movies, with people toiling in neat rows in a factory
setting. These factories do exist, but in addition, some sweatshops
use overseas labor involving children as young as 6 years old. Others
– including the one my mother worked in – combined factory hours with
home-based piece work to maximize the exploitation and squeeze the
most out of workers: even after leaving the factory, the work never
ends.

Equally important for sweatshop owners are the weapons of intimidation
and shame, which keep parents from admitting they have involved their
own children in unlawful work situations.

For my parents and so many Asian parents, having worked in a sweatshop
is a shameful past and people choose to bury those memories. It’s
time we brought them out in the open and let people tell their stories
without being subjected to cynical attacks.

35 years ago, I worked with my mom – inside a sweatshop and at home.
For me, it’s not a shameful past. I make no apology for the work
ethic I gained from toiling away many hours in a factory, and I remain
as committed as ever to exposing and ending the sweatshop system.

I am running for Comptroller based on my record of accomplishments and
my fiscal expertise and my vision for what the Office can do. I am
also running to expand opportunity for the millions of New Yorkers who
don't have a job as well as those who work in sweatshops in the
retail, restaurant, laundry and many, many other industries.

Sincerely,

John C. Liu


---
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: "City controller hopeful John Liu touts youth in
sweatshop - only family says it never happened" - 8/23/09


In powerful new TV ads, emotional music plays over pictures of city
controller candidate John Liu as a little boy.

"He came here at 5, and by seven had to work in a sweatshop to make
ends meet," a narrator drones over images of women hunched over
machines in a crowded factory.

"Working in finance taught Liu how to account for every penny, but
working in that sweatshop as a kid taught him why we need to."

There's only one problem with the compelling story of his immigrant
childhood toiling beside his mother in a sweatshop — his parents and
two of his mother's friends say it never happened.

She worked at home.

"I never go to the factory," Liu's mother, Jamy Liu, 69, told the
Daily News of her 10 years in the garment industry.

"I just go there and pick up some material and bring home because I
had to take care of my kids," she said in an interview arranged by her
son.

As a young boy, Liu helped his mother work on the knitting machine —
first in the living room of the family's Flushing, Queens, apartment,
then in the garage of their larger Bayside home, his parents said.

He was paid 25 cents for every ball he spun on a yarn-spinning tool,
but Liu's father, Joseph Liu, 73, described that money as allowance.

"Lily Fashion pay her, and she give the kids allowance to encourage
them," Joseph Liu said of the company that employed his wife while he
worked his way up in a bank and studied at night for his MBA.

Liu, 42, rarely, if ever, mentioned his sweatshop childhood during his
three campaigns for City Council or after he became the Council's
first Asian-American.

The News found no references to his sweatshop work in articles about
him before this year.

But Liu's sweatshop past has been the centerpiece of his campaign this
year and is cited extensively by labor leaders and others who've
endorsed him.

Asked to list his employment history on a recent questionnaire from
The News, he said he worked as a "knitting-thread manager" in Queens
garment factories from 1974 to 1978.

"I learned first-hand why they call that place a sweatshop," Liu said
a recent campaign event.

When The News confronted Liu about the discrepancy, he insisted his
memory is accurate and made an impromptu offer to take a reporter to
Queens in search of proof.

Forty minutes later, Liu's mother met his car on Main St. in Flushing,
where she told her son she had mostly worked at home.

"Sometime work there couple hours," she said of the factories where
she said she did "freelance" work.

"Every style, I had to learn there [in the factory]. Then I go home
because I had to take care of kids."

Liu then took his mom and a reporter to meet Kwei Ching Liao, who
owned a garment factory in Flushing that was the first to employ Jamy
Liu when she arrived with her young family from Taiwan.

But Liao told the same story. She worked "in home," Liao said. "Take
home the piece work."

John Liu became visibly frustrated, frowning and resting his forehead
in his hand.

"I'm just trying to prove that 10 years of my life were not my
imagination," he said.

Liu called the next day to say he'd spoken with his parents about "how
our memories could be so different" and said he thought they may have
been ashamed of the sweatshop and hadn't told the whole truth.

"They were worried about how it would look for me that I worked in a
sweatshop ... They were not being completely forthright," he said.

A day later, his campaign gave a reporter two additional names of
women who worked with his mother, but one reached by The News told the
same story.

"She cannot stay [in the factory] because she has the children," said
Nancy Kuo, 68, of Flushing, who worked with Jamy Liu at a factory in
Long Island City.

Jamy Liu would bring her three sons with her to the factory when she
came to collect her piece work, Kuo said, and John Liu, the oldest,
would ask to use the machines.

"Just for fun," she said. "He thought was toy. He want to try."

Only Jui Zheng, 74, of Flushing, said she saw Jamy Liu work on a
regular basis in the Long Island City factory, though she was sketchy
on when or how long.

Through a Chinese interpreter, she recalled Jamy Liu worked at home
for a while, then in the factory, where she would sometimes bring her
boys. She said the owner occasionally gave children work to do and
believes she saw John Liu help out.

Liu maintains his memories are accurate, but his version of events has shifted.

He now says his mom worked at home during the schoolyear so she'd be
available to her kids after school — but brought them to the sweatshop
with her in the summer.

It was a different story than he told The News in an interview last
month. "Part of the year when school was open, we were latch-key
kids," Liu said last month. "We went home by ourselves and stayed
until 9 o'clock when my mom came home."

Still, he says, he remembers everything precisely.

"I was proud of the fact at the time that while other kids were
playing around, wasting time," he said, "I actually had a job, making
money, getting paid."

Councilman John Liu gets an earful:

CCRC has recently received a letter submitted to John Liu by citizens of Chinatown, it reads as follows:


Dear Councilman John Liu,

As Chairperson of the Council's Committee on Transportation, there is a struggle presently going on in Chinatown to halt/stop/delay the construction slated to begin in June 2009 regarding the reconfiguration of Chatham Square, you should not be sitting on the sidelines. Please voice your support for Chinatown at this time - don't let this 3 year / $50-million construction project start on schedule during this time of recession. It would mean more longtime Chinatown small businesses folding; after Chinatown has suffered 7 long years of parking placard abuse and 7 long years of Park Row Closure. $50-million of taxpayer money and 3 years of construction - all during a time of recession!! By now, it is common knowledge that Chinatown has had the slowest recovery of all neighborhoods since 9/11 (due to Park Row's closure and rampant parking permit abuse for 7 years - and these strained conditions exist even now!). $50-million would be better spent providing increased bus service to Chinatown - now that would be giant step toward economic recovery for Chinatown!

I recently spoke with traffic expert Brian Ketcham on 12/10/2008 at a Community Board 3 Transportation Committee meeting and asked Ketcham specfically if any Economic Impact Study, and, if a Pedestrian Safety Study were included in the proposed Chatham Square reconfiguration plan. Ketcham told me that these crucial studies were NOT included in the plan. As Councilman Gerson stated, the plan is "premature".

This is a partial (confirmed) list of Chinatown community organizations, electeds, etc. that oppose this Chatham Sq reconfiguraton / construction schedule,
(This list is growing rapidly larger day-by-day):
Those Against the Chatham Square reconfiguration plan and schedule:

Sheldon Silver - in public statements X2 occasions in the last 10 days
Alan Gerson - in public appearance and statements X2 occasions in the last 10 days
Daniel Squadron
Survey of Chinese newspapers and radio
Chatham Towers residential
Two Bridges
Hamilton Madison House
Immigration Social Services
Oliver Street Block Association
Mariner's Temple
Transfiguration Church
Community Board 1 - by unanimous vote
Transportation Committee of CB3 - voted 8 yes and 1 no (to withhold approval of Chatham Squar plan, 1 abstained
Chinatown Benevolent Association

This is a list of orgs, agencies and individuals that support the Chatham Square reconfiguraiton to occur on schedule:
Those For the Chatham Square reconfiguration proposal and schedule:
DOT
NYPD
Mayor's Office / LMDC/ DDC / DEP/utility companies
David Crane (CB3 Transp Committee)

As it stands now, Community Board 3 is not responding to the will and concerns of the local community, and CB3 is presently sitting on the fence, "withholding approval" for the Chatham Square reconfiguration plan. I urge you to please join the other electeds noted above (testimony attached) to stop the Chatham Square reconfiguration and construction.

Hopefully, you will not be like CB3 and sit on the fence for Chinatown. As Chairperson of the Council's Committee on Transportation, a few words from you would mean a lot for Chinatown.

Respectfully,
Life long Chinatown resident

Where's John?

We've heard from Councilman Alan Gerson (see posting below for his transcript) and we've heard from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (see his transcript below) who have both weighed in on Chatham Square. Their message is united with the Chinatown community : "we reject this plan" "it needs more community input" "Open Park Row".

Both Councilman Gerson and Speaker Silver have been in constant contact with community leaders on Chatham Square's reconstruction, and they vowed to continue a dialogue.

Notably absent from this discussion is Councilman John Liu, the Chair of the Transportatin Committee of the City Council.

John Liu, as Chair of Transportation, was there to hear testimony on illegal placard parking rampant in Chinatown, but on this issue he is silent and perhaps deaf.

Consider this the first of many "Shout outs" John.