In the early morning near the 59th Street subway station in Brooklyn’s South District, a woman in a yellow coat was busy distributing flyers. She is Ling Ye, a first-generation Chinese immigrant running for city council for the first time.
Ling Ye came to the United States from China with her mother at the age of 14, and they rented a small basement in New York. Her mother worked in a garment factory in Chinatown during the day and attended community English classes at night, striving to adapt to the unfamiliar environment.
“We used to live very frugally back then. My mother always bought a pack of four buns for five cents to bring as breakfast and lunch because buns were more filling than milk tea and bread,” she recalled, describing it as one of the most memorable scenes from her childhood.
Her mother would leave home before 7 a.m. each day to attend English classes at the Chinese Public Hall from 8 to 10 a.m. After class, she would rush to work at the garment factory, returning home late at night. “I remember she always stopped at the vegetable stand in front of the Confucius statue on Doyers Street to buy the cheapest vegetables, which were our affordable source of nutrition,” Ling Ye said.
In the early 2000s, the New York garment industry rapidly shrunk due to globalization, causing her mother to lose her job. She briefly resorted to street vending until she found stable employment again.
This experience made Ling Ye deeply understand how language barriers and information disparities make it difficult for new immigrant families to access public resources. “Many people don’t know that the government actually has many subsidies and assistance programs, but due to language barriers and information asymmetry, many people have no choice but to rely on themselves,” she said.
She worked hard to learn English and eventually got accepted into the tuition-free Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. However, after graduating, she chose to work in the office of an elected official, dedicating herself to public service.
“I don’t want the hardships of my childhood to replay in today’s immigrant families,” Ling Ye said. Over the past decade, she has been involved in community policy consultations, resource connections, assisting vulnerable residents in applying for grants, and providing translation services.
Regarding her candidacy, Ling Ye stated, “For the past ten years, I have been diligently working in the field of public service, hoping to represent grassroots families like ours.”
She hopes to promote actual changes within the system, focusing on improving community safety, addressing housing issues, and enhancing education quality. “Our city budget is huge, exceeding $100 billion annually, but when people look around, they see too many dysfunctional operations. Some politicians prioritize political gains over the actual needs of the people. I am running to change this situation and bring real results for the community,” she expressed.
She opposes the idea of simply expanding homeless shelters and instead advocates for increasing the supply of affordable housing and rental subsidies to address homelessness.
She proposed an alternative approach: allocating half of the budget as “rent subsidies” – providing $20,000 per household annually could assist 100,000 extremely low-income families in stably residing. “Spending $4 billion on maintaining the shelter system is not as effective as allocating $2 billion to support families,” she suggested.
In terms of housing policy, she criticized the incumbent council members and progressive factions’ ideals of “100% affordable housing” and “rent freezes” as overly idealistic and difficult to implement, ultimately stifling housing supply. She supports a mixed development approach that incentivizes and negotiates with developers to have both market-price and affordable housing, believing that “reasonable profit for developers should not be entirely denied, or it will only lead to gridlock.”
She further pointed out that the excessive profits made by the city government in homeless shelter construction projects should be scrutinized. “You talk about fairness, but the city invests approximately $4 billion annually in shelters, policies are swiftly approved, but money flows into the pockets of homeless organizations, resulting in an increasing number of homeless individuals, with no tangible results, even leading to corruption scandals; on the contrary, housing construction is not allowed to be profitable, facing strict restrictions and pressures for ‘100% affordability,’ isn’t this a misplacement of priorities?”
In the upcoming city council election, Ling Ye will challenge the incumbent council member Alexa Avilés – a Democratic Socialist (DSA) and a core member of the progressive faction in the city council, known for advocating tenant protections, rent freezes, climate legislation, and racial justice.
Ling Ye pointed out that the progressive faction often overlooks the actual feelings and resilience of grassroots communities when pushing for utopian ideals of “fairness and justice.” “The implementation of these policies has left the Asian community feeling marginalized and neglected,” she stated.
She emphasized, “I am running not to impose any particular (ideological) standpoint but to ensure that the city’s public services truly work for everyone. I aim to fight for more resources and support for the community, ensuring that policies respond to the actual needs of residents.”
Having been deeply involved in the community for over a decade, Ling Ye has served council member Carlos Menchaca, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, and Congressman Dan Goldman.
After the 2023 Brooklyn Chinatown family massacre, she assisted the victims’ families in dealing with the aftermath, including finding housing and establishing trust funds. Mr. Liu, the father of one of the victims, said, “She was there for us, just like family.” In response to the recent family tragedy in Bensonhurst on April 6, she and several Asian-American legislators rushed to the scene.
She stressed, “What the community needs is real help and ongoing care, not just slogans. It’s not about language or skin color; it’s about whether you are genuinely willing to listen and act.”
In the 38th district, which includes Red Hook, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Borough Park, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and parts of Bath Beach, the Asian population accounts for 32% and is increasing annually. Ling Ye stated that immigrant families in these areas are concerned about educational equity, housing pressures, worsening public safety, and inadequate municipal services. If elected, she plans to collaborate with Asian-American representatives from neighboring districts to consolidate the dispersed voices of Asian communities in the city council and work with all ethnic groups to “make the city work for everyone.”
Early voting for the New York City primaries is from June 14 to June 22, with the official voting day on June 24. Voters can find their polling locations through the website www.findmypollsite.vote.nyc.