Tag: New York City

Posted on

“If They Come for Me In the Morning”: Forums on State-Sponsored Xenophobia

image

AABANY is excited to tell you about “If They Come for Me In the Morning,” a series of town hall forums regarding today’s state-sponsored xenophobia. Featured speakers include Japanese American incarceration camp survivors, Native American artists and activists, African American historians, Holocaust survivors, and people threatened with deportation. They will discuss how government-led bigotry and violence against families have reverberated throughout history, to guide our collective movement towards a better future.

The series began last week on September 27th, with a forum on the Japanese American Incarceration coming up on October 10th. For more information, click here. Thank you to George Hirose at JACL-NY for sharing this event with AABANY

Posted on

Congratulations to Judy Kim

Please join AABANY in congratulating newly elected Civil Court Judge Judy Kim. See below for a statement from KALAGNY.

KALAGNY Congratulates Judy Kim on Becoming the First Korean American Elected to a Judicial Position in the State of New York

We are pleased to announce that our member Judy Kim has been elected to serve on the New York Civil Court (4th Municipal Court District).  Ms. Kim is the first Korean American elected to a judicial position in the State of New York.  Currently, Ms. Kim is an associate counsel in the Legal Division at the New York Liquidation Bureau (Liquidation Bureau). The Liquidation Bureau is a quasi-state agency that assists the Superintendent of Financial Services of the State of New York in his capacity as receiver of insolvent insurance companies. Ms. Kim also worked at Snitow Kanfer Holtzer & Millus, LLP as an attorney focusing on commercial litigation, employment discrimination litigation, and matrimonial litigation matters. Before that, Ms. Kim worked at Kennedy Lillis Schmidt & English, a boutique maritime law firm. Ms. Kim received her J.D. from Tulane Law School, and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Ms. Kim holds or has held various other non-profit board positions.  Currently, she is a board member of the Korean American League for Civic Action (KALCA), and the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (JALBCA).  She has been a board member of or held various leadership roles within a number of other organizations, including the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the New York City Bar Association, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).  Many congratulations.

Posted on

Upcoming MFJC Core Trainings, June 13-29

The Manhattan Family Justice Center is happy to announce our next round of core trainings. Our training program provides professional development for service providers, community leaders, and city agencies on relevant topics regarding intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, and elder abuse.

Please share widely.  All trainings are free and located at the MFJC: 80 Centre Street, 5th Floor Training Room.

REGISTER NOW!

Domestic Violence Dialogue
Facilitated by FJC Admin Staff

  • Monday, 6/13 2-5 pm

Risk Assessment & Safety Planning
Facilitated by STEPS to End Family Violence

  • Tuesday, 6/14 2-5 pm

Cultural Conversations
Facilitated by NYC Anti-Violence Project & OCDV Staff

  • Wednesday, 6/15 2-5 pm

Housing & Shelter
Facilitated by Sanctuary for Families, New Destiny Housing

  • Friday, 6/17 10 am – 1 pm

Trafficking & Commercial Sexual Exploitation  
Facilitated by Center for Court Innovation & NY Asian Women’s Center

  • Monday, 6/20 10 am – 1 pm

Criminal Justice Responses to DV
Facilitated by Manhattan DA’s Office & NYPD

  • Monday, 6/20 2-4 pm

Immigration Law
Facilitated by NY Legal Assistance Group & Sanctuary for Families

  • Tuesday, 6/21 2-5 pm

Family & Matrimonial Law
Facilitated by NYLAG

  • Wednesday, 6/22 2-5 pm

Elder Abuse
Facilitated by Weinberg Center

  • Tuesday, 6/28 10 am – 12 pm

Economic Empowerment
Facilitated by Sanctuary for Families & the Financial Clinic

  • Wednesday, 6/29 10 am – 1 pm

Immigrant Eligibility for Public Benefits
Facilitated by Sanctuary for Families & OCDV Staff

  • Wednesday, 6/29 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Posted on

Afghan Lovers Begin an Asylum Odyssey in New York

Afghan Lovers Begin an Asylum Odyssey in New York

Check out the moving story of Afghan lovers Zakia and Mohammad Ali, whose parents oppose their union because they are from different sects. Seeking asylum in New York, they are hoping to establish new lives for themselves beyond the potato fields of their home in Bamian Province. 

Our Immigration & Nationality Law Committee Co-Chair Poonam Gupta has a hand in their journey:

This time around, the process for an American visa has been going more smoothly. Their case, granted under Humanitarian Parole, a limited visa program for those with a “compelling emergency,” was facilitated by a lawyer, Poonam Gupta of White & Case LLP, who was hired by the aid group Women for Afghan Women.

Click on the link in the title to read more of their love story.

Posted on

Asian American Bar Association of New York Commends the Appointment of Donald Leo as New York City Criminal Court Judge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2016   

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(718) 228-7206

NEW YORK – January 14, 2016 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) commends New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s appointment of Donald Leo as New York City Criminal Court Judge. Judge Leo joined the bench after thirteen years of service as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County and seven years as Deputy Bureau Chief of the Sex Offender Management Bureau for the New York State Attorney General’s Office. His appointment was effective December 29, 2015.

A lifelong New Yorker and first generation son of Chinese immigrants, Judge Leo is fluent in Cantonese and witnessed firsthand the Chinatown community’s aversion to cooperating with law enforcement and their distrust of the legal system. He has spent many of his years as a public servant fostering public trust and bridging the two worlds of New York’s Chinatown and New York’s criminal justice system by bringing justice to those who often feel that there is none. Judge Leo is a graduate of New York University and received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. He is also a founding member of AABANY’s Prosecutors Committee, started in 2008.

“AABANY is proud to see another one of its prominent members ascend to the bench,” says Yang Chen, Executive Director of AABANY. “Judge Leo is highly qualified to serve on the Criminal Court, and his own life experiences speak to the need for increased diversity on the bench. The more the bench reflects the diversity of the residents in our diverse communities across the city, the more they can develop a sense of trust that the courts are truly representative of them and are there to serve them. We thank Mayor de Blasio and his Advisory Committee on the Judiciary for making this appointment possible, and for continuing to promote diversity on the bench as an integral part of the administration of justice for all New Yorkers.”

For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (718) 228-7206, or direct any inquiries to [email protected].

The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community.  Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole.  AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

###

Additional information about AABANY is available at www.aabany.org

Follow our blog at www.blog.aabany.org

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabany

Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aabany

Find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/aabany

Posted on

Thanks to GSPI Co-Chair Karen Yau for sharing news about NYC’s Municipal IDs!

Check out Karen’s latest update from the Government Service & Public Interest Committee:

Dear Colleagues,

Hope you are well!

There are many reasons to attend our Government Service and Public Interest Committee events. A chief one among them is that you will meet very interesting people and learn very interesting information.

As many of you know, NYC’s Municipal ID has been very popular and useful. But it has also been hard to get an appointment to secure it. See:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/nyregion/more-popular-than-expected-new-yorks-id-program-has-officials-scrambling.html?_r=0
At last Friday’s panel discussion on the proposed changes to the 

Specialized High School admissions process, in the after-event reception, I met a deputy director of the Municipal ID Program and learned that its capacity has recently increased greatly. Interested persons can get appointments almost immediately.

I have just tried it and secured appointments for me and my husband with no problem. I highly recommend that you check out the program. The ID comes with many privileges, including free membership to cultural institutions. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/benefits/museums-and-cultural-institutions.page

Sincerely,

Karen
GSPI Committee Co-chair

If you’d like to become more active in AABANY’s Government Service & Public Interest Committee, feel free to contact Karen at [email protected] to join their mailing list, attend or volunteer at their events, and hear the latest. You can join their LinkedIn Group by clicking here. Our GSPI Committee is one of our most active, and there’s always room for more!

Proudly powered by WordPress