Lius Victory A Landmark For Boroughs Diversity

In the election that saw Queens elect the first-ever African-American to the office of borough president, John Liu, president of the North Flushing Civic Assoc. became the first-ever Asian-American to be elected to a City Council seat from Queens.
Liu, a Democrat, earned the victory in the 20th District (58 percent of the vote) over the Republican candidate Ryan Walsh (32 percent), Green Party representative Paul Graziano (6 percent) and Independent Martha Flores-Vasquez (4 percent). All the numbers are as of press time, 2 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7.
Ironically, the general election was much less of a nail-biter than Lius narow win in the Democratic primary, in which he edged out Ethel Chen by less than 1,000 votes.
Taiwan-born, Liu was raised in Queens. He attended PS 20 in Flushing and later graduated from Bronx High School of Science and University of Binghamton. His father, a former head of Greater Eastern Bank, encouraged Liu to run for city office in the last election. He lost, but was more successful on a second try.
Liu, who ran in the same neighborhood where he grew up, said that he has a grass-roots interest in the concerns of his community.
"As a father of a young child, I have a personal stake in the success of our public schools," said Liu. He lives with his wife Jenny and son Joseph in Flushing, just blocks away from where Liu grew up himself. "As a homeowner, I am also committed to keeping our community a decent place to live and raise a family," he added.
Liu also stressed he is sensitive to the needs and concerns of the seniors, having lived all his life in northern Queens, with its large senior population. He also said that he knows the importance of keeping the streets crime-free.
"My program for keeping our neighborhoods safe can be summed up in five words: More cops on the street," Liu said.