Participants can watch live at ny.gov/VETF. Submit questions for the speakers in advance by emailing COVID19VaccineEquity@health.ny.gov.
New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Taskforce – Fireside Chat on February 12, 2021
Governor Cuomo Proclaims Lunar New Year Day in New York State
On February 4, Governor Cuomo issued a proclamation recognizing Lunar New Year Day as a deep-rooted day of celebration for Asian and Pacific Islander communities. February 12 will mark the beginning of the “Year of the Ox,” an animal whose association with hard work and diligence has universal relevance amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In these challenging times, Governor Cuomo calls upon all New Yorkers to “join in spirit with our Asian and Pacific Islander communities and wish them the very best in welcoming Lunar New Year 4719, as we look forward to an end to the worldwide suffering and loss in the near future and to peace and good health for all.”
ASIAN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF REPORT ON RISE OF ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE IN NEW YORK DURING COVID-19
NEW YORK – February 10, 2021 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) is proud to announce the release of its report co-authored with Paul, Weiss, A Rising Tide of Hate and Violence against Asian Americans in New York During COVID-19: Impact, Causes, Solutions. Executive editors of the report were Chris Kwok, AABANY Board Director and Issues Committee Chair, and Karen King, Vice Chair of AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee and Counsel at Paul, Weiss. The report is dedicated to Corky Lee, who passed away on January 27, 2021 due to COVID-19. Corky was a revered photographer in the Asian American community who had been documenting the effort to combat anti-Asian violence and harassment in the wake of COVID-19. Read more here.
To read A Rising Tide of Hate and Violence against Asian Americans in New York During COVID-19: Impact, Causes, Solutions, click here.
Black History Month 2021 Calendar
Kings County Courts Black History Month Committee continues to have lunchtime events each afternoon this month. The stream link for the BHM events is: http://wowza.nycourts.gov/VirtualCourt/st-kgsupcr.php?room=st-kgsupcr1 (password: 1234)
AABANY and Chinatown CLT Host Successful Rent Relief Application Virtual Phone Clinic
By Nick Loh
The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) just concluded a virtual phone clinic to assist Mandarin and Cantonese speaking tenants in applying for the NYS Homes and Community Renewal’s (HCR) COVID Rent Relief Extension Program. This HCR program allowed NYS renters to seek a one-time rental subsidy for the months of April – July 2020. The program originally opened for submission in late July 2020, extended to August 8, 2020, and then re-opened the application process on December 18, 2020 until February 1, 2021. We assisted 83 callers in total: 87.5% of those callers had limited English proficiency, with most callers speaking Cantonese (41.1%) and Mandarin (46.4%). We handled this call volume with a dedicated team of 24 volunteers.
In response to the program’s second extension, AABANY organized a coalition to get bilingual information and resources out to the community. Articles ran in ethnic newspapers during the weekend of January 17, 2021, announcing our COVID Rent Relief Project 2.0. The goal of the project remote clinic was (1) to provide information to callers on how to apply, (2) if necessary, to have the volunteer and caller contact HCR’s Call Center together to reach an interpreter, and/or (3) to have the volunteer act as the interpreter. No legal advice or legal representation was provided.
At a time of increasing isolation due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and in the face of language access barriers for Mandarin and Cantonese speaking NYC residents, the AABANY Virtual Phone Clinic provided a welcome opportunity to build relationships in the community and provide assistance.
AABANY would like to thank William Lee, Vice Chair of the Student Outreach Committee; May Wong, Remote Clinic Coordinator, and the Organizers of the COVID Response Law Student Team (Nicholas Loh, Xinyi Shen, and Olympia Moy). We thank the 16 law school volunteers (representing 8 different law schools) and 5 community members who made calls, waited on hold to speak to HCR, and provided this valuable assistance to the community.
AABANY would like to thank our community leaders who partnered with us in making this clinic a possibility. They include:
- AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Services Committee – Co-chairs – Asako Aiba, Judy Lee, Karen Lin, and Karen Kithan Yau; Remote Clinic Coordinator – May Wong
- AABANY’s Vice Chair of the Student Outreach Committee – William Lee
- Roxy Chang, Community Organizer of Asian American For Equality
- Lizzie Lee, Community Liaison from NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh’s office
- Damaris Reyes, Executive Director, GOLES, Inc.
- Jacky Wong, Chinatown Community Land Trust
AABANY Hosts Weekly Membership Mixer on February 5, 2021
On February 5, 2021, the Membership Committee hosted their weekly virtual Membership Mixer, with 13 participants in attendance. AABANY held the mixer on Remo, a platform that allows attendees to move freely from table to table, much like an actual networking event.
Our weekly Friday mixers are open to everyone, but only members who register for the weekly mixers through the calendar entry on the AABANY website have a chance at winning a prize.
Please join us this week on February 12, 2021 for our Lunar New Year celebration! To register, please sign up online by February 11 at https://www.aabany.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=1468894.
New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Fireside Chat on February 4, 2021
NAPABA Commends President Biden’s Memorandum on Anti-AAPI Xenophobia
For Immediate Release: Date: January 27, 2021
Contact: Priya Purandare, Executive Director
WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) commends President Biden’s Presidential Memorandum denouncing discrimination and xenophobia against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
In the memorandum, President Biden directed the Attorney General, to investigate, document and address hate incidents and harassment against AAPIs. Additionally, the President directed the Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, to issue guidance, including language access, toward AAPIs in the nation’s COVID-19 response.
“Members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community have been victims of increased acts of discrimination, hate and racist violence, and harassment during the COVID-19 pandemic, much of which has been underreported by the media,” said NAPABA president A.B. Cruz III. “We applaud President Biden’s efforts to unify the country by recognizing and addressing these despicable acts that have devastated our community and businesses. We strongly urge all leaders, organizations and individuals to join us and take a stand against hate.”
According to the Stop AAPI Hate project, there were over two thousand documented incidents of hate or violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the summer of 2020 related to COVID-19.
Please see NAPABA’s Hate Crimes Center for more resources on how to respond to acts of hate. Organizations are invited to join NAPABA’s Stand Against Hate campaign. NAPABA addressed and condemned racist language in an organization statement last fall.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of approximately 50,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity in government and the judiciary on the local, state, and federal levels, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
AABANY Officer Margaret Ling Quoted in New York Law Journal Article about Women in the Law
Margaret Ling, AABANY’s Officer, Director of Development, and founder and co-chair of the Real Estate Committee, was featured in a New York Law Journal article about the New York State Bar Association’s Women in Law panel held on January 26, 2021.
About midway through a New York State Bar Association panel on the challenges of retaining and advancing women attorneys, Margaret Ling, a veteran real estate lawyer, told the story of how she’d once toiled for months on an important matter only to be told by her male superior before a vital, well-attended matter meeting that “you are to sit there and you are to say nothing.”
Read more here (subscription is required).
STATEMENT OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK MOURNING THE PASSING OF CORKY LEE
On Wednesday, January 27, the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) received the news that Corky Lee succumbed to his battle against COVID-19. We join the community in mourning this iconic and ever-present figure who graced us through his art and advocacy with a deep and unwavering love for Asian Americans in New York and across the country. Read more here.