Yuh-Line Niou
Yuh-Line Niou is a Taiwanese-American politician. She is a Democratic Party member of the New York State Assembly representing the 65th district, the seat previously held by Sheldon Silver. This Lower Manhattan district, which is heavily Democratic and 40% Asian, includes Chinatown, the Financial District, Battery Park City, and the Lower East Side. Niou is the first Asian-American elected to the State Assembly for this district.Life and career
Niou was born in Taipei, Taiwan, the eldest of three children. Her mother and father worked as a registered nurse and materials science engineer, respectively, and were both from Taoyuan. She lived in Moscow, Idaho, and El Paso, Texas, before her parents settled in Beaverton, Oregon. She attended The Evergreen State College, and worked as an aide to members of the Washington State Legislature. She moved to New York in 2010 to obtain a master's degree from Baruch College, and served as chief of staff to State Assemblyman Ron Kim.After a corruption scandal involving Sheldon Silver forced his resignation, a special election was held to fill the vacancy in April 2016. Alice Cancel, an ally of Silver and a local Democratic District leader, ran as the nominee of the Democratic Party, while Niou, with the encouragement of former State Senator Daniel Squadron, ran as the Working Families Party candidate. Cancel won the election.
Niou ran for the seat in the 2016 elections, and won the Democratic nomination in September 2016. She then won the general election in November 2016 with 76% of the vote.
Since her election to the New York State Assembly, Niou has prioritized legislation related to consumer protection and tenants rights as well as advocating for increased funding for the New York City Housing Authority.
In 2019, during an assembly hearing on sexual harassment in the workplace, Niou recounted her own sexual assault.
