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Yves came as the saying goes, at least in terms of consumer trends, “This is true in California, and so is the whole country.” Therefore, in terms of China’s vote, it is too early to call New York City a pioneer in the United States. However, it is not difficult to imagine that Chinese parents who have invested heavily in their children’s education in both money and time are disturbed by the way of elite universities, and it is very likely that not so elite universities will find ways to lower the ranking of academically outstanding Chinese applicants. It appeals to the stereotypes of nerds to prevent Chinese students from being over-represented. Elite schools have had quotas for a long time, and there are too many people opposed to private schools, and they are opposed to Jews who, like the Chinese, have excellent performances as a group.

However, New York City’s denial does not come from affluent areas, where voters may also have a purse reason to decide Republicans may not be so bad. The reversal occurred in the “hood” of the middle class and the working class. Although education does not seem to be the main issue (hate crimes and Manhattan’s neighborhoodism have made the Chinese area the preferred location for homeless people), it does score. The city under Bai Sihao has been withdrawing funds from the gifted student program.

Authors: Rong Xiaoqing, Clifford Michel, Sohail Bart and Will Welch.Originally published on City on November 11, 2021

November 9, 2021, Mayor Curtis Sliwa’s poster at Sunset Park Chinatown along the 8th Avenue corporate decoration.Ben Frachtenberg/City

After voting in the early morning of Election Day, Ray Huang went to the polling station near Brooklyn Sunset Park many times.

Every time he brought one or two Chinese residents to vote for the Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, just like him.

They are not alone: ??City Election Commission data shows that although Sliwa received 29% of the vote citywide and 24% of the vote in Brooklyn, he was playing against the Democrat Egypt at Sunset Park Center. Rick Adams won 46% of the votes in the game. In this community center called Brooklyn Chinatown, 70% of residents classified themselves as Asian in the 2020 Census.

Of the five boroughs, Sliwa received 44% of the votes in districts where more than half of the residents were Asian—more than 40% of his enclaves in white enclaves, 20% in Hispanic-majority areas, and black-majority. 6% of the region.

He said that Huang, who has been a Sunset Park resident and emerging community leader since the 1980s, is not difficult to persuade people he met nearby to choose a Republican candidate. Many of them have just participated in a demonstration organized by Huang six days ago.

The October 27th protests against the homeless shelter planned by New York City on Eighth Avenue and 65th Street attracted more than 1,000 New Yorkers, not only from Sunset Park, but from all over the city.

Sliva March with the protesters He also addressed the crowd-vowing to stop building homeless shelters if elected.

In his own campaign, Adams chose Sunset Park as the place to announce a proposal that would turn vacant hotel rooms in boroughs outside Manhattan into supportive housing units for the homeless.

Voters like Huang noticed this contrast.

“When we need Adams, where is he?” Huang asked.

Note: The total does not include absentee ballots
Source: New York City Electoral Commission
Will Welch/City

A visible dent

New York Chinese accounted for the largest share of the city’s rapidly growing Asian population, reaching nearly 1.4 million in the 2020 census, accounting for more than half of the city’s overall growth since 2010. Asians now account for nearly 16% of the city’s population, which is a record.

In 2019, the Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs Statistics It identified nearly 418,000 New Yorkers from China, accounting for nearly half of all Asian immigrants in the city. According to MOIA data, approximately 56% of Asian immigrants are naturalized citizens-which makes them eligible to vote.

Homeless shelters are just one of a series of issues that have prompted many Chinese voters to align with Republican candidates for mayor and city council this year.

According to activist leaders, other catalysts include proposed reforms in high school admissions and genius programs, plans to build new prisons in Manhattan’s Chinatown and other areas, and bail reforms to reduce pre-trial incarceration.

A wave Hate crime Targeting Asian Americans during the pandemic increased the sense of urgency for public safety and law enforcement. For the first time, the anger and frustration of Asians left obvious traces in urban elections.

In the city council, the Republicans Flip A former Democratic Brooklyn seat in a district Asian New Yorkers make up 18% of the populationThe Republican Party also hopes to win the 36% Asian Queens.

From Flushing to Bayside in Queens, to Sunset Park and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, in communities where Asians are concentrated, Sliwa led Adams from dozens of votes to thousands of votes-in 317 Asian communities in the city. Among the 137 constituencies in the ethnic majority constituency, they won.

Republicans take note

The rising Republican leaders have noticed this trend. They include Representative Lee Zeldin (RL.I.), who is running for governor with the support of the New York State Republican and Conservative Party.

Zelding has Regular meetings and fundraising activities According to his campaign, along with Asian American activists and community leaders, more events will be added in the coming months, according to his campaign.

“Like many New Yorkers, they worry about public safety, the quality of their children’s education, the rising cost of living, and how the politicians who control Albany don’t fight for their most important priorities,” said Katie Vincentz, Zelding The spokesperson of the campaign.

“They are very disturbed by the Democratic Party’s repeal of many laws that protect the safety of communities, such as bail reforms,” ??she told the city.

She added: “The de Blasio government has been opposed to the genius program.” “The talented courses and professional high schools are tools that provide opportunities for many Asian Americans (mainly immigrant families). Especially for the Chinese community. In terms of education, education is very important.”

“We are also a minority”

Candidates like Zeldin can get a boost from Asian New Yorkers, such as Ling Fei, a popular conservative WeChat blogger who owns a computer repair shop.

On November 6, Fei Xiaotong hosted a Zoom meeting to discuss strategies for mobilizing voters to participate in the mid-term and governor elections next year with more than 30 Chinese activists (many of whom had campaigned for Sliwa).

“Following the protests against homeless shelters, many protesters who were eager to vote found out that they were not registered as voters,” said Fei who came to the United States in 2000 to study as a graduate student and voted for the first time 18 years later.

He told activists that his goal is to help Sunset Park register 4,000 new Chinese voters in the next year or two, preferably the Republican Party. “We have a large number of undeveloped voters, many of whom are conservative newcomers,” Fei said.

Huang is also at the Zoom conference. A registered Democrat stated that he would not consider changing parties in the short term. Huang said that he voted based on the values ??of the candidates, not the party.

After a pause, he added: “But the values ??of the Republican Party resonate more with Chinese voters.”

Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), after seeing the results of the November 2 election in her northeastern part of Queens, tweeted her alert – and warned her fellow Democrats to wake up And began to establish contact with Asian voters.

Pending paper ballot count, assembly area @nily @edbraunstein @Barnwell 30 @rontkim @???23AD All went to the Republican Party.Our party better start talking more #aapi Voters and communities. In 2020, no other community will develop faster than AAPI. https://t.co/wGJvp19CeB

— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) November 4, 2021

Until this year, Meng has served as the vice chairman of the National Democratic Party and has worked hard to reach out to Asian voters in red states from Georgia to Texas.

In an interview with “The CITY”, Meng lamented that when it comes to blue sites like New York, complacency has already begun to emerge. Democrats feel safe there and therefore have not invested resources.

She also described the invisibility of Asian Americans in the public voice of her party.

“When our Democratic leaders talk about the problems facing minority communities, they usually only talk about black and Hispanic communities,” Meng said. “But our community is the fastest growing community. And we are also a minority.”

‘We will be invincible’

An important turning point came in the summer of 2018, when thousands of Asian New Yorkers who hadn’t cared about politics before protested de Blasio’s call to abandon the Professional High School Admission Test (SHSAT) because of racial differences in the city’s elite classrooms.

Exams are the only basis for entry into top high schools, including Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech, which are mainly Asians.

“Before SHSAT, I had never participated in any protests,” said Phil Wong, a freelance translator and father of three, who came to the United States from Hong Kong in 1974 at the age of 6.

Wong became a member and chairman of the Elmhurst Community Education Committee 24, a position he held until June. He was one of the parents who sued the city for professional high school reform in 2019, and the case is still pending.

He is now the chairman of the Chinese American Citizens League of Greater New York, leading the campaign to keep the SHSAT and the genius project. Recently, his team has launched a race-centered education, using “critical race theory” as a derisive term.

“The so-called education equality of the Democratic Party based on race reminds me of China’s Cultural Revolution,” said Huang, a registered Democrat, who said he is considering switching to the Republican Party.

Wong ran for Sliwa with two other Republican candidates, Queens congressman-elect Joann Ariola, and Manhattan district attorney candidate Thomas Kenniff, who lost to Democrat Alvin Bragg.

On election day, Huang worked from morning to night, distributing leaflets.

“I’m so tired. I slept until 11 o’clock the next morning, and my legs were still shaking. But I had no choice. Letting their children receive a better education is the reason why many Chinese come to this country,” he said. .

Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY, a pedestrian in Flushing, Queens
Although education may be a kind of fire, it is not the only problem that causes fires.

Robert Jin, an insurance company in Queens, said he has been involved in politics in recent years because he believes that “the city and the country are moving in the wrong direction.”

Last month, he held a fundraising event for Sliwa in Flushing. After receiving public matching funds, he attracted 140 people and raised $110,000.

King said he couldn’t believe that Sliwa had lost. But he told his WeChat fans that there is no need to cry.

“We Chinese are awakening for the first time. We will be invincible in next year’s governor election,” Jin said.