Monday, January 8, 2007

In Liu of Doing Something

John Liu is the Councilman from Flushing. He frequently looks bored at council meetings and public forums. He typically sits there and says nothing. Except when the topic is Asians. Then all of a sudden, it's like a fire is lit under him. He becomes animated and defensive of his race.

From G.A.:

A concerned resident of Flushing made mention at a civic meeting that store entrances fronting Union Street in Flushing are locked and blocked, forcing customers to enter through a communal parking lot. This obviously presents a fire and emergency response hazard. Here is a video he made to illustrate this problem:



These same stores in many cases also do not have signs in English or English-speaking personnel. This is not only dangerous in case of an emergency, but also an exclusionary practice which disrupts community cohesiveness and causes animosity. This is a problem not only in downtown Flushing but in all communities which are heavily occupied by recent immigrants from different parts of the world.

Well, you can't make mention of the fact that locking exits is a fire hazard or that store signs aren't in English. If you do, according to John Liu, then you are a racist. Take a look at this clip where he responds to his constituent who had the nerve to voice his concerns:



Yes, in a nutshell, it's ok for "his people" to lock their fire exits, and if you call attention to it, then you must have a problem with Asians and you should learn to live harmoniously with them.

Now, here's a clip of his famous "I am an Asian" speech from a community board meeting in 2004:



Why did he feel the need to make this speech? You might recall that John Liu stood next to Mayor Bloomberg with a smile on his face reminiscent of the cat swallowing the canary when the announcement was made that the Flushing Airport property was being sold to a Korean development group. Many surrounding homeowners were not just disappointed but angered at the choice for the property. The College Point Corporate Park is already overgrown and the traffic on the Whitestone Expressway is unacceptable. The project would have brought 1,200 additional trucks and other traffic to the area on a daily basis. During the course of the meeting, one of the task force members said that he observed the same Korean businesses which were planning to move to College Point at their present locations in midtown Manhattan allowing customers without appropriate credentials to enter and shop in these wholesale facilities. The concern was that this practice would be brought with them to Queens. A valid concern, no? Not if you're John Liu.

Councilpersons of color who take money from the developers, businesses, etc. in their communities can easily avoid doing anything about the problems they cause by playing the race card. Who wants to be accused of racism? No one. But if you bring up the fact that illegal aliens are sleeping 10 to a room in Astoria, or that alien smuggling operations are being run out of Flushing, then be prepared to be tagged a bigot. A very clever and underhanded tactic that works like a charm. (Just ask Toys R Us! - Yes, Liu weighed in on that, too, in favor of the illegal Asian mother.)

John Liu also thought it important to offer free Chinese lessons to people of Chinese descent who were born here and don't know the language. It would be more beneficial to our city and country if free English lessons were offered to residents who do not speak our language. Wouldn't that foster better communication and understanding?

Take a look at the people John Liu takes money from (i.e. developers, store owners, realtors):

City Council 2001 & 2005 races

2009 State Campaign - office not yet declared (just type in "John Liu" in candidate search and click "submit query")

(Politicians just LOVE when you look at their campaign contributions!) - Q.C.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Liu found it necessary to ignore the more important issue of life safety and the locking of emergency exits and concentrate on race relations. He mentions that they have a valid "certificate of occupancy." Either he's totally ignorant of the fact that that has absolutely nothing to do with the current issue of locked or blocked emergency exits, or he's purposely trying to shift the focus back to his one-note speech: race as it applies to Asian-Americans/Asians.

One audience member brought up whether this should be brought to the attention of the Fire Dept. That was ignored by both Mr. Liu and the NYPD speaker at the lectern (is that the commanding officer?)

Then the whole thing is totally forgotten by allowing another audience member to bring up a totally different issue. Not that he may not have a valid issue, but the issue of locked fire exits is now ignored.

Anonymous said...

John Liu (2X as in "toilet") appropriately named to represent his district in "Flushing" will grab a photo- op anywhere he can. . Now, if he would only work as hard for ALL OF HIS CONSTITUENTS as he works for just some, we'd have some improvement in the filth and congestion in the area of "Drain St. in Downtown Flush-Town". But he's a Stavisky- Machine boy and (we've heard rumors from the Asian community...but they won't go public with the info ) that he's related to Tommy Huang via Tommy's wife....Alice Liu! If anyone is interested in Taiwanese geneology to research the Lui family tree (we know that Lui is like Smith and is a common name) be our guest!

verdi said...

Maybe you should name your "Queens Crap" mascot "Johhny Loo" (as the British refer to a commode)!

Anonymous said...

Oh, you've picked my favorite subject...John Liu! Ask him if he took money from.......I believe the builders name is the Suzuki Corp.(?) a project just behind the Bowne House. These new buildings in-filled the courtyard of an existing pre-war apartment block. They cannot get a certificate of occupancy, and are yet unoccupied, after several years (as told to me by a NYC fireman) because you can't get FDNY fire apparatus in there due to inaccessability! So if the older occupied pre-existing building catches fire, how do you get the residents out safely? Will Councilman Liu accept the role of "accomplice" should such a tragedy occur?

Anonymous said...

Flushing is supposed to be a multi-cultural community not a mono-cultural community! There are as many Latinos , for example, as there are Asians (give or take a few numbers according to census reports)! There are also many other nationalities in the area that are not properly represented. Why? Because they don't give money and favors to politicos running for office! If John Liu intends to speak up mainly on Asian issues, then he should become the U.S. Ambassador to Taiwan!

Anonymous said...

I am glad that John Liu's failings are being brought to the attention of the public. Since he has been in office, he has never sent out any advisories or updates to the community he allegedly serves. However, using Google, I see that he spends a fortune producing and distibuting press releases to the media. His predecessor, Julia Harrison, always kept the North Flushing community informed. I actually saw her in the district many times. Where is John Liu?

The video taken at the civic association meeting clearly shows an unsettling attitude that the older community must accept all the changes because that's the way it is. This is absurd and an insult to all the members of that community who helped to build and maintain it for decades. Where are the other public officials? Surely they must see what is going on. Why are this community's representatives turning a blind eye to this problem? Why isn't there a better plan for assimiliation? This is racism at its ugliest.

It is even more of an insult to see Mr. Liu on national television complaining about an inadvertent slight by Rosie O'Donnell or a TV show dividing teams based on ethnicity. Who appointed him the moral authority for the Asian community? The Asian community is a community that complains but does not offer outreach.

I would like to see a city council committee investigate Mr. Liu's failings as well as his connection to all the overdevelopment that is ruining the town of Flushing.

AG

Anonymous said...

Looks like he's already raised a cool half million for higher office! That's a LOT of favors to grant to a lot of happy developers, realtors and contractors if people are stupid enough to elect him.

Anonymous said...

It was his father, Joseph Liu, who I believe, was either a principal (?) or a partner (?) in the "Great Eastern Bank" (Main St. Flushing) that was, I belive, named in a federal (?) indictment just before (or at the time) that "sonny- boy" ran for his city council seat for the first time around! Joey was, again I believe, put under house arrest (?) or was released on a suspended sentence (?). I think that the charges against pal "Joey- The -Father" & some others at the bank were either fraud (?) or mis-use of funds (?)! Well, John Liu named his newborn son "Joey" for his father and insisted at the time that "......justice...was not....properly...served...."! Is there any truth to any of these stories that were circulating at the time? And that the same "Great Eastern Bank" was owned by Tommy Huang's in-laws' family? We're a little confused. Can anyone out there verify any of these rumors? The newspapers were full of this stuff at the time! Maybe somebody's willing to F.O.I.L. Joe Liu's court records and shed some light on all of this.

Anonymous said...

Now, now, be nice. John's job is to bring the Asian community into the machine's fold.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't John Liu have a "day job" as a bean- counting financial actuary for some prominent accounting firm? He certainly doesn't put in a full day's work as a City Councilman! Come to think of it, a position on the NYC Council, for most members, is only a part time job! That's precisely what's wrong with the system. If I vote for someone to represent me, I expect him to work "union hours"....an 8 hour day! But, we're willing to pay overtime. Former Councilwoman Julia Harrison worked full-time , in fact, much more... and in spades!

Anonymous said...

8/29/01 - The New York Times today endorsed a candidate in this race. District 20 (Central Queens-Flushing North area): "The two strongest candidates in this race are Ethel Chen, a retired library supervisor, and John Liu, a financial analyst and civic leader. Mr. Liu is an energetic, articulate contender. But his campaign finances raise questions about his connections to developers in the area and to his father's bank; the elder Mr. Liu and other bank officials were convicted of bank fraud earlier this year. We recommend Ethel Chen, who has a longer and more impressive record in community service."

Energetic? Funny...he falls asleep at meetings now!

7/31/01 - Alan Hevesi, the city comptroller and mayoral candidate who has the backing of the Queens Democratic Party, endorsed 34-year-old John Liu for City Council on Friday in a speech outside of the Flushing City Hall.

Having won an endorsement from Alan Hevesi added something extra special to his victory, didn't it?

Anonymous said...

I was an involved citizen, at the time, and was personally present (and so were others who could verify this but, we all didn't....and still won't... for fear of repercsussions) when a N.Y. State Elected Official stated (I think it went like this), ".....thank God for the Asians, we don't want downtown Flushing to become a South Jamaica...."! The meaning was clear: This was an anti-Latino and anti-African- American racial slur!!! The real plan for the development of Downtown Flushing was to lure Asian money there and thus limit business opportunities for Latinos and People of Color! If this sounds racist, it sure is! The "Old Boys" of Flushing did not want to see the value of the real estate that they owned plummet. They were paranoid about a "minority take-over" of the neighborhood. They didn't want Flushing "..... to become a South Bronx....." (another phrase which we heard used on another occasion)! They wanted to protect their investments! Don't think that these same State Officials (and others) are fond of Asians. They only intended to use them. When someone complained about "overbuilding and the spreading blight" of the downtown area, one of these officials answered, that they intended to try to ".....contain it here and ".....keep it from.....spreading....." out into the other neighborhoods (the desireable ones, you know them, the ones in Northeast Queens etc.) ! These same Democratic Machine politicians, of course, supported John Liu! Now, I'm registered as an Independent voter so I've got no ax to grind with either political party. But Democrats, have historically speaking, have always "imported" their votes. My final message be careful who you vote for!

Anonymous said...

Asian power!