Yuh-Line Niou
Website: nioufornewyork.com
Twitter: @yuhline
I am honored to have previously received the Grand Street Democrats’ endorsement, and I am ready to continue fighting for historic progressive victories and giving a voice to Lower Manhattan.
I am currently the only Asian-American woman representative in the New York State Legislature. With my 17 years of state-level government policy experience, I have been able to take on tough fights and special interests to deliver for working families:
1. Affordable Housing and Rent Regulations: As a Member of the Assembly Committee on Housing, we passed the strongest housing reforms in a generation, protecting millions of rent stabilized tenants in New York City. We made our rent regulations permanent, repealed vacancy deregulation and bonuses, invested in affordable housing, and overhauled tools used by bad landlords to raise prices and harass tenants.
2. Child Victim’s Act: I have been an outspoken champion for the Child Victims Act which brings justice to survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This law amends our statutes to increase the statute of limitations on cases of child sexual abuse and provides a one year look- back window which began on August 14th for adult survivors, who under previous law, were unable to seek civil action.
3. Transportation: We need to ensure that we have accessible, on-time transit systems while also creating a transportation system that meets the needs of people who bike, drive, or walk. I will continue to fight to ensure that the MTA will have the funding it needs to serve our growing population while ensuring future plans are fair to our community in Lower Manhattan, while promoting pedestrian safety and protected bike lanes.
4. Public Housing: Since coming into office, I’ve led historic efforts and secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for NYCHA. NYCHA is still in great need of permanent, extensive funding and I remain committed to fighting to fulfill that need.
5. Education: New York currently ranks 49th in the nation on equity in education spending, and we are owed billions more since the recession a decade ago. I have delivered over $1 billion in additional funding for New York City schools. We are still owed $44.3 million dollars in school aid funding, and I will continue fighting to ensure the state gets us our fair share—before we allocate funds to charter schools or private institutions.
6. Campaign Finance Reform: The only people legislators should be accountable to is our constituents. I led a fight for public financing of campaigns because it is a real, viable system that can fight back against corruption and send a message to our constituents that their voices matter. It empowers the communities that we should be representing in Albany. It encourages individuals to participate in elections through small-dollar donations, and it helps level the playing field, especially for people of color and women, who are taking on special interests.
7. Criminal Justice: I helped pass historic reforms that fix our broken criminal justice system, including the elimination of cash bail that disproportionately affected Black, Latinx, and
low-income families. It means that innocent people sit in jail which leads to a whole other host of problems — by eliminating it, people will not be forced to give up their job, become homeless, or be away from their children while awaiting trial. This is one important step in ensuring our criminal justice system is fair and that our community remains safe.
8. Climate Change and Resiliency: There is no doubt that there will be another severe weather event like Superstorm Sandy — the question is when it will happen. We need to ensure that the State and local government work together to protect and invest in our community, which is one of the most at-risk from extreme weather events. Just recently, I helped to pass the most comprehensive climate change legislation in the nation. This law sets New York on a course for a sustainable future by transitioning our state to clean renewable energy, creating new jobs for communities of color and low-income communities, and reducing greenhouse emissions by 85%.
There’s more to deliver for our shared values—on all these issues—and I’m ready for that fight. I’m running for reelection because our community needs someone that has genuine experience and knowledge in government, listens, knows the issues, and fights for all of us. I’ve stood with the members of the Grand Street Democrats against anti-Semitic attacks on our community, rallied with them in vigils and community events, and fought together to resolve local issues like the street conditions in Grand Street and Clinton Street, bus line service cuts in our community, and more. I’m ready to continue fighting for our priorities together and would be honored to have the endorsement of the Grand Street Democrats once again.
— Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou
Grand Street Dems asked each 2020 candidate to submit a statement ahead of our endorsement meeting on Sunday, February 2.
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