19 children, 2 teachers – killed in yet another episode of gun violence that has become all too common. This endless tide of racial hate and gun violence continues to take the lives of innocent Americans across the nation. The shootings targeting communities of color in Buffalo, Dallas, and now Uvalde, Texas must stop. This week’s mass shooting at a Texas elementary school – following the Buffalo mass shooting from two weeks ago resulting in deaths of 10 predominantly older victims – is a harsh reminder that our country has failed to protect the most vulnerable among us. We offer our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting. We demand that our elected officials at all levels of government work together to take immediate action to protect Americans in their daily lives.
Prosecutors Committee Hosts Spring Cocktail Mixer
The AABANY Prosecutors Committee finally held their Brooklyn get together after being postponed since December due to the Omnicron variant of COVID. Over 50 former and current prosecutors from Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau and Manhattan joined Committee Co-Chairs, David Chiang of the Queens DA’s Office and Joe Gim of the Nassau County DA’s Office to honor James Lin, who recently retired after 30 years of service at DANY (District Attorney New York) and KCDA (Kings County District Attorney). Prosecutors have been on the front lines of the crime wave that has struck New York City, and it was great to share the stories of our challenges and our efforts to overcome them! We also were joined by AABANY Board Member Karen Yau, who works on AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, and Hannah Yu, DANY’s Chief of the Hate Crimes Unit. We are so excited to see so many Asian Americans representing the people of New York State! To learn more about the Prosecutors Committee, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/73.
AABANY Celebrates AAPI Heritage Night at Brooklyn Nets Game
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, AABANY members attended AAPI Heritage Night at the Barclays Center to watch the Brooklyn Nets take on the Detroit Pistons. During this inaugural event by the Nets to celebrate AAPI cultural heritage, female South Asian acapella group New York Masti performed the national anthem, Chinese-American rapper Bohan Phoenix performed during halftime, and AAPI pioneers were honored during the game. As for the game itself, fans enjoyed an exciting game where the Nets overcame an early deficit to win by a final score of 130-123 with Kevin Durant leading the way with 41 points. Thank you to those who came out and stay tuned for future AABANY Membership Committee events!
To learn more about the Membership Committee, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/130.
AABANY Co-Sponsors Historic Reenactment: “Kung Flu”: A History of Violence and Hostility Against Asian Americans
On March 24, 2022 AABANY co-sponsored a reenactment on the history of anti-Asian violence and hostility at the New York City Bar Association in midtown Manhattan. The script was written by Kathy Hirata Chin and her husband, the Hon. Denny Chin, longtime leaders and supporters of AABANY, who spearheaded the AABANY Trial Reenactment project. “Kung Flu” marks the Trial Reenactment Team’s 14th production. “Kung Flu” was first performed to a standing room only audience at the NAPABA National Convention in Washington, DC, in December 2021.
The program examined the history of anti-Asian violence and hostility through narration, reenactment of court proceedings, and historic photos. Asian Americans did not hesitate to fight for their rights in the courts, and these cases raised issues that were — and still are — important to all Americans.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 10,000 incidents of violence and hostility against Asian Americans nationwide. But this is nothing new, for there is a long and little-known history of anti-Asian violence in this country — from the lynching of 15 Chinese in Los Angeles in 1871 to the expulsion of all the South Asian residents of Bellingham, Washington in 1907 to five days of rioting and attacks against Filipino men in Watsonville, California in 1930.
Likewise, the recent rhetoric about the “China virus” and “Kung Flu” is not the first time Asian Americans have been targeted over purported health concerns. In 1870, San Francisco passed two health ordinances that were enforced only against the “Chinese and Asiatics.” In 1900, amidst fears of the bubonic plague, San Francisco required “the inoculation of all Chinese residents” and quarantined Chinatown. The ordinances were not applied to members of any other groups.
The reenactment acknowledges the challenges Asian Americans have faced in the past and reminds us that much is still to be done.
We thank Judge Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin for leading the AABANY Trial Reenactment Team and all the participants for giving their time to raise awareness on anti-Asian violence and hostility. We thank the New York City Bar Association for co-sponsoring and allowing us to perform “Kung Flu” in the Great Hall. President Sheila Boston presented opening remarks at the start of the program and performed as Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. To learn more about AABANY’s reenactments project, please visit https://reenactments.aabany.org/.
AABANY LGBT Committee Hosts Lunar New Year Dinner Discussion
On March 23, the LGBT Committee hosted a group dinner at Wu’s Wonton King in Manhattan Chinatown. Attendees enjoyed a delicious family-style feast featuring peking duck, Wu’s signature wonton soup, and crispy prawns, among other dishes.
The dinner honored Committee Co-Chair John Vang for his five years of service. Co-Chairs Glenn Magpantay and Jacob Chen surprised John with a bouquet and a speech thanking him for all his hard work.
The evening also included a roundtable discussion on future programming by the LGBT Committee. Attendees reflected on what queer Asian spaces could look like. The conversation engaged voices from all areas of law, from the Honorable Richard Tsai of the New York Criminal Court to students at Cardozo School of Law.
Thank you to everyone who attended the event! To learn more about the LGBT Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/439.
AABANY Membership Committee’s #RestaurantSeries Continues at Nowon, March 31
On Thursday, March 31, 2022, AABANY’s Membership Committee hosted their last event of the fiscal year, supporting Asian-owned restaurant, Nowon. The #RestaurantSeries was created to support Asian-owned restaurants recovering from the impact of the pandemic. Twelve members were in attendance enjoying Korean-fusion cuisine. We ordered the “Mixtape” menu, Classic – Vol. 1, which included Korean Fried Chicken, their Legendary Burger, Crispy Tater Tots, and Yuja Donut Holes for dessert. Chef-owner Jae Lee came out during dessert to say ‘hello’ to our group. Everyone was excited to be back in-person, dining comfortably with others and learning about the diverse membership body. Thank you to those who came out and stay tuned for future AABANY Membership Committee events!
AABANY Intern Han Wen Zhang Livestreams Justice for Asian Women Rally from Times Square
On March 16, Stand with Asian Americans held a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta shootings. From 6:30pm to 8:00pm, more than 1,000 attendees gathered in Times Square to remember the victims and call for change. The event was part of a nationwide series of rallies held in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Sacramento, San Francisco, Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C.
AABANY intern Han Wen Zhang participated as the New York City livestreamer. The livestreams from each city were woven into a national 12-hour webcast titled Break the Silence: Justice for Asian Women. The program featured speeches from community leaders, government officials, and training videos on personal safety and bystander intervention.
The New York City rally included a lineup of speakers and performers, including Executive Director of the Asian American Federation Jo-Ann Yoo, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Min Jin Lee, Governor Kathy Hochul, Chinese American rapper Bohan Phoenix and actor and musician Perry Yung.
Attendees and passersby were given colorful posters based on Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s public art series “We Are More.” Event organizers also passed out yellow whistles, with “We Belong” inscribed on one side. To learn more about this event, please visit https://www.asianjusticemovement.org/awr.
AABANY Holds its First “Restaurant Series” Event
On Friday, March 18, AABANY held its first gathering in their Restaurant Series, where AABANY members and friends gather together at Asian-owned eateries to network and support the community.
14 People came to Hop Lee, a Chinatown institution. The attendees had a traditional 8 Course Cantonese dinner. After dinner, some members went to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for dessert. (Fun fact: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is owned by an AABANY member, Christina Seid, who is a 1L Law student at Touro.)
Please review our weekly announcements for upcoming restaurant dates, where AABANY will be traveling all over NYC and trying out different cuisines for businesses that were affected by COVID.
Next in the series is a visit to Nowon in the East Village on March 31. For details, see https://www.aabany.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=1624192.
In the News: AABANY Member Jennifer Wu Quoted in NY1 Article on Hate Crimes
On December 8, 2021, NY1 News published an article titled “NYPD civilian panel investigates hate crimes as cases double.” The NYPD tasked a civilian panel to review more than a hundred cases potentially motivated by bias. The article highlights the following:
- Reported hate crimes doubled this year to 503 as of Dec. 5
- There were 249 arrests in these cases
- Of the 503 reported hate crimes, 129 of them were against Asians
Jennifer Wu, Co-Chair of AABANY’s Women’s Committee and a Partner of Paul, Weiss who has represented hate crime victims pro bono, is quoted in the article: “When people experience economic stress or a plague, a majority of people tend to blame a class of people.”
To read the full article, click here.
AABANY Congratulates Member Eunkyong Choi on Her Appointment as Special Trial Judge
On December 6, 2021, Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court, Maurice B. Foley announced that AABANY Member, Eunkyong Choi, has been selected to serve as a Special Trial Judge.
Eunkyong Choi holds a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Political Science from the University of Akron, and both a Juris Doctor and Master of Laws in Taxation from the Washington University School of Law. In addition to time spent in private practice working on a variety of legal issues, Eunkyong taught Ethics & Media at Sanford Brown College and was a Lecturer in Law at the Washington University School of Law. Eunkyong spent several years working for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs), having served as the LITC Program Director for Nevada Legal Services from 2010-2014 and as a Supervising Attorney with the Washington University LITC from 2014- 2016. In June 2016, she became head of The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, an independent office within the New York City Department of Finance set up to help New York City residents with property and business tax problems after they have found difficulty in fixing them on their own.
Eunkyong spoke at the AABANY Fall Conference in 2017 in a program titled “The Melting Impôt: The Intersection Between Immigration and Tax.” The panel discussed tax issues faced by many immigrant and ESL taxpayers who are unaware of their taxpayer rights and responsibilities. In July 2018, AABANY co-sponsored Diversity Tax Day for Professionals Working with Limited English Proficiency Taxpayer in which Eunkyong was a guest speaker. In October 2020, she was a speaker on AABANY’s Real Estate Committee program, “New York City and Long Island Real Estate Taxes.”
Please join AABANY in congratulating Eunkyong Choi on her appointment as Special Trial Judge in the United States Tax Court.