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From the
Queens Chronicle:
Former City Councilwoman Julia Harrison, who served as Flushing's representative in the legislative body from 1986 to 2001, died after battling an undisclosed illness on Thursday.
She was 97.
A self-described outspoken maverick in the legislative body, Harrison proudly told the Chronicle and other media outlets over the years that she refused to simply vote the party line on a number of issues.
For example, she was the only Queens Council member to vote against the AirTrain that runs between Jamaica and Kennedy International Airport, something she called a "disaster."
"Some of my Democratic colleagues would've liked to have gotten rid of me because I did what I thought was right," Harrison said in a 2001 interview with the Chronicle. "They consider me a loose cannon."
Her strong interest in issues such as women's health, the elderly and cleanliness in Flushing made her popular with many in the community, but her 15-year tenure in the Council was not without controversy.
Speaking to a New York Times reporter in 1996 about Flushing's changing demographics, Harrison was quoted as saying the increase in Asian immigrants amounted to "an invasion, not an assimilation" — in addition to a few other questionable remarks.
From the
Daily News:
Julia Harrison is having the last laugh.
These days Harrison, 91, smiles as her enemies twist slowly in the wind as she gazes from her fourth-floor co-op on Union St. in Flushing.
“Every dog has his day,” Harrison says. “In 2000, John Liu, the arrogant little pup, walked into my living room here and announced that my political career was over. I showed him the door.”
Today Liu is in the middle of a federal campaign finance investigation, dashing his mayoral dreams and threatening his political future. Meanwhile Harrison was recently reelected as Democratic female district leader from AD 22 Part B.
“I don’t mean to gloat,” Harrison says, “but I won’t say I’m not enjoying it.”
“The holier-than-thou assemblyman who led the march on City Hall demanding my resignation was Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin,” she says. “Today he’s doing 10 years in a federal pen for corruption, including stealing $90,000 from a Little League. The other self-righteous hypocrite who tried to end my career is Alan Hevesi, who got caught stealing public money. He’s also doing time.”
From the
Queens Tribune blog:
John Choe would rather not talk about North Korea.
“This issue is of very little relevance to District 20,” said Choe, responding to claims made last week by District Leader Julia Harrison, who said her sources were wary of Choe’s alleged connections to North Korea.
Choe did agree to a lengthy interview to dispel the rumors and past allegations that his role in founding a group called Nodutdol somehow branded him unpatriotic or worse. He made no secret of his advocacy for peace on the Korean peninsula and explained his positions on the issues that have gotten North Korea in headlines around the world.
Nodutdol sponsors trips by American Koreans to visit the country and the blog posts they write are overwhelmingly positive, describing the new found pride they feel in their heritage and the warm welcome they received. Nodutdol has been criticized for not presenting the negatives of North Korea, but Choe says that is not the purpose of the group. Instead, the group wants to foster cultural exchange and understanding, traits that Choe considers prerequisites for peace.
Choe said North Korea, like every nation, is entitled to test rockets for civilian purposes. When asked if he believe the rockets recently tested are for satellites or weapons, he said is not aware of any evidence one way or the other.
In regards to human rights violations, Choe criticized the former military government of South Korea, especially their National Security Law, which he said led to the “restricted free speech and freedom of conscience, [and] allowed the authorities to detain, torture and sometimes kill their political opponents whether they were professors, poetry, labor activists.”
“If a similar system is in place in North Korea, I would also oppose it,” said Choe.
