Dao Yin, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Queens Borough President in 2020 and a failed bid for city council in 2021, has announced that he is running to represent Flushing and surrounding areas in the state assembly and will be taking on the incumbent, Ron Kim, in the Democratic primary in June.
Yin, 60, who has lived in Queens after immigrating with his family from China in 1998, aims to represent district 40 that covers the northeastern Queens neighborhoods of Flushing, Linden Hill, Murray Hill and Broadway-Flushing. He said that he is dedicated to improving the neighborhoods in the district, with a focus on quality-of-life issues (such as crime and public safety), as well as public transport and affordable housing.
Yin, who currently lives in Flushing, says that creating a Flushing bus terminal to improve public transport is his number one priority. He also aims to reduce congestion on local streets.
“I am advocating for Flushing to have its own bus terminal. There was one in operation before, but it was demolished in the early 1950s. If we had one in place again, people changing from subways to buses wouldn’t have to walk down the street which would alleviate congestion,” he said.
The topic of building a bus terminal in Flushing is not a new idea and he says that over the years there have been varying opinions with some saying there is not enough space in the neighborhood to build one, which he strongly disagrees with.
“As well as Flushing being one of the busiest areas for bus to subway transfers in the New York City Transit system, there are also many buses not in operation parked on the streets taking up space, so there is space in downtown Flushing that could be used for a bus terminal,” he said.
Yin adds that this would improve public transport in Flushing and serve to improve the quality of life of Flushing residents.
In addition to improving quality of life, Yin says that if elected he would aim to create a dedicated flea market area that street vendors could sell from during the week at set times, instead of selling products on the streets.
“Flushing needs a flea market that would be open at certain times every day. These people are making a living so they should have a dedicated area to do business and I suggest either churches or schools in Flushing with a parking lot that could be open in the evenings could be a possible place to host the flea market,” he said.
He said that he wishes to work with the Flushing Business Improvement District (BID) and the NYPD’s 109th Precinct to make this happen.
In relation to affordable housing, Yin says that he aims to create housing specifically for seniors in the district.
“Creating affordable housing for seniors is really important in order to look after our aging population. More advanced day adult centers are also needed in communities,” he said.
Yin said that if elected he would use the state budget to create affordable housing and other amenities for seniors in the district.
Kim, who has represented the district since January 2013, narrowly won his 2022 race against Republican candidate Sharon Liao. This year, Kim is also battling against Democratic candidate Andy Chen to represent district 40 in the state assembly.
