The city’s newest Asian-majority City Council district will play host to one of the more competitive races in this year’s local election cycle, underscoring the complicated and varied politics of the city’s fastest-growing demographic.
Five candidates have already announced a run for the 43rd Council District, and are making their cases to voters ahead of the primary that is still expected to take place this summer. The candidates – Democrats Wai Yee Chan, Stanley Ng, and Susan Zhuang and Republicans Ying Tan and Chingkit Ho – are all of Asian descent, and have framed their campaigns around addressing public safety and education.
For Elizabeth OuYang, a civil rights attorney and coordinator for a coalition of local Asian American organizations, the formation of the new district presents an opportunity to underscore issues affecting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
“In the past, AAPI communities did not – despite their growth – see a fair share of resources, and I think that has to be rectified,” she said. “Now that we are more cohesively put into a large part of one district, what needs to be brought out more are disparities, and whether they’ll be able to get the resources that we’re entitled to.”
The new south Brooklyn district is the result of a dramatic increase in the Asian population, which spurred advocates to push for the creation of an Asian-majority district when new maps were drawn in 2022. The most recent Census survey showed a rapid growth among Asian residents across all five boroughs, outpacing that of every other racial demographic within the past decade.
In the past, AAPI communities did not – despite their growth – see a fair share of resources, and I think that has to be rectified. Now that we are more cohesively put into a large part of one district, what needs to be brought out more are disparities, and whether they’ll be able to get the resources that we’re entitled to.
The New York City Districting Commission decided to combine neighborhoods like Bensonhurst and New Utrecht with parts of Dyker Heights and Sunset Park, creating a district that’s nearly 54% Asian.
“Now that a newly created majority AAPI district has been formed, will we see improvements in affordable housing, in language access, culturally sensitive delivery services, public safety or education?” OuYang said. “I think everybody’s watching to see if there’ll be a difference.”
While OuYang and others see the new district as a move in the right direction, it’s not without controversy.
For example, some claim the splitting of neighborhoods into two districts – notably Sunset Park, which is also home to a large Latino population – diluted the political power of Latinos. Only 15.3% residents in the new district identify as Latino, according to CUNY's Center for Urban Research.
Don’t count the GOP out
Republicans don’t typically fare well in New York City elections, but voter turnout data from the last mayoral election shows the newly drawn 43rd District could be friendly for the two Republican candidates vying for the seat.
According to voting data compiled by CUNY, almost twice as many people within the district's boundaries voted for Curtis Sliwa, the Republican who ran against Democrat Eric Adams in the 2021 mayoral general election. That’s despite there being more registered Democrats in the district than members of all the other political parties combined, showing that residents don’t always vote within party lines.
Part of that shift can be explained by concerns over public safety, said Yiatin Chu, president and co-founder of the Asian Wave Alliance, a political advocacy group that lobbied for the new district.
“Crime, or public safety – however you want to position it – will still be something that is at the forefront,” Chu said. “I mean, you open most Chinese papers, the local section, and there’s at least one – if not multiple – stories about some assault, some crime, that’s been committed.”
A pandemic-era spike in violence and hostility toward Asians both locally and nationwide heightened anxieties. NYPD data shows there were 134 confirmed anti-Asian assaults and robberies in 2021, with the total number dropping to 83 in 2022. So far this year, there have been six anti-Asian incidents compared to 35 from the same time a year ago, according to NYPD data.
Safety concerns are also partially responsible for why Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and other Asian-majority neighborhoods shifted to the GOP during the 2022 state election, according to The New York Times. And it could similarly lead to another GOP win in the district, and a new Republican member added to the party's growing ranks within the Council.
Crime, or public safety – however you want to position it – will still be something that is at the forefront. I mean, you open most Chinese papers, the local section, and there’s at least one – if not multiple – stories about some assault, some crime, that’s been committed.
Education and schooling are also sticking points for local Democrats looking to garner more support from Asian voters, particularly for low-income Asian families who rely on the city’s public school system, according to Chu. More Asian parents are rallying for the state to lift its cap on charter schools while others are pushing to see more inclusion of Asian American history in the school curriculum.
“Educational discrimination is a common topic in the Asian community,” Chu said. “Feeling like the school system – from K to 12 through college – is just a system that has put us at a disadvantage.”
The economy is also an important topic for the district, according to Jerry Vattamala, an attorney with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who pointed to income inequality within Asian American communities.
“There’s this perception that Asian Americans are wealthy and doing well,” Vattamala said.
For example, between 1980 and 2019, Asian households had the largest increase in homeownership rates than any other racial group, according to the Urban Institute.
“But there are so many that are living in poverty, and have the highest poverty rate of any racial group,” he said.
Electoral obstacles
One of the largest obstacles for candidates running for the 43rd Council District seat will be getting people to the polls. Chu cited low registration numbers and the prevalence of non-U.S. citizens who can’t vote in the upcoming election. While 77.9% of the district's residents can vote, 38,956 of the adults who live there aren’t citizens, according to CUNY data.
She also pointed to lingering cultural attitudes toward voting that, for many, were formed from living under a communist regime.
“A lot of the immigrants in this area come from China, where they are just not used to voting and having a meaningful voice,” Chu said. “I think there is just a cultural reluctance to participate.”
Asian American voters had a paltry turnout in state Senate and Assembly races last year, according to the Asian American Federation, a local nonprofit.
Jo-Ann Yoo, the organization’s executive director, said elected officials will need to work even harder to engage with these New Yorkers.
“The Asian American community is the fastest growing in the country, state and city,” she said. “What are the plans you have to engage in the community, or be a part of the civic life in your district?”
Others are hopeful that the unprecedented nature of this race in Brooklyn will be enough to encourage people to vote.
“When you get a district that’s run fairly, that keeps your community together, you realize that you have the ability to affect the election and actually elect a candidate of your choice, and your community’s choice,” Vattamala said. “The turnout jumps dramatically.”
