The race for Rep. Gary Ackermans' Congressional seat is on: While Assemblyman Rory Lancman has been public about his interest in running, Queens Democrats have tapped Assemblywoman Grace Meng as their candidate. The redrawn Congressional district—the 6th—would be 37-40% Asian. more ›

The owner of the Bay Ridge karaoke club that was the scene of a violent early-morning brawl last week finally talked about the brouhaha, and the 22-year-old is just full of gems. more ›

New York magazine's cover story is a feature about "What happens to all the Asian-American overachievers when the test-taking ends?", a follow-up of sorts to the attention that Amy Chua's parenting memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, received for many of its strict (some might say insane) ideas and anecdotes about raising successful children. And it turns out that the magnet high school Stuyvesant, which has a 72% Asian population, isn't the greatest launching ground for its Asian students to bridge cultural gaps. more ›

It's nice to see the great recession hasn't snuffed out everyone's ambitions; take, for instance, this triple-decker restaurant and bar opening tomorrow night in the gigantic space formerly occupied by Wild Salmon. Called Zengo, the Latin-Asian fusion restaurant is the work of Mexican chef and restaurateur Richard Sandoval (Maya, Pampano) and Chef de Cuisine Akhtar Nawab (Elettaria RIP). Maestro Placido Domingo is a partner in the project, which also has locations in Denver and D.C., and the design is by big shots AvroKO. That's some serious firepower, which they're hoping will break a streak of failures at this daunting (cursed?) location. more ›

For the first time ever, black, Hispanic and Asian residents of New York City outnumbered their white counterparts at the polls. In what the Times describes as "a seismic political shift," voters who identified themselves as minorities constituted 51 percent of the vote in November's citywide elections, compared to white voters who made up 46 percent of the total. more ›

With his resounding victory as the next City Comptroller (76% of the vote to Republican candidate Joseph Mendola's 19%), City Councilman John Liu is the first Asian-American elected to citywide office. Liu, who was born in Taiwan and immigrated to NYC at age 5, said last night, "The significance of my victory tonight is not lost on me … indeed, this is an historic night for New York City and a milestone for Asian Americans across the nation. ’m truly humbled.” Supporters were excited, with one telling WCBS 2, "He is also an immigrant like me, is not American-born like me, so it's very exciting," and another invoking President Obama's historic win last year, "I see a parallel, for him to make history." more ›

While voter turnout for Tuesday's primary elections was really low—the NY Times suggests it could be the "lowest in modern New York City history"—one group did use their electoral muscle. In another article, the Times reports that aside from John Liu's 38% showing in the Comptroller race, "Asian-American candidates won Democratic primaries in three City Council districts on Tuesday... Of the 51 Council districts, 32 had primaries on Tuesday. Turnout in the three districts where Asian-Americans won was among the highest in the city: 17 to 18 percent, compared with a citywide average of 11 percent, according to the Board of Elections." Margaret Chin (pictured) defeated incumbent Alan Gerson for Council District 1; Yen Chou won the primary for Liu's old Council seat in Flushing; and Korean-American Kevin Kim won Tony Avella's old Council seat in northeast Queens. Hunter College sociologist Margaret Chin (no relation to the pol) said, "It’s significant for the whole population to see all these Asian-Americans taking political roles for the first in public. The West Coast broke this barrier close to two decades ago." more ›

Four former employees of pretentious Chelsea nightclub 1OAK (the name stands for 'one of a kind') filed a lawsuit against club owners Thursday in Manhattan Federal court, the Daily News reports. Lawyers say the four minority workers – three female waitresses and one male bartender – were terminated because club owner Scott Sartiano only wanted "white girls he could f---" serving drinks, or so they were told by a manager, who allegedly elaborated, "Scott has a thing about Asians, he wants all white girls." In June, 1OAK owners denied trying to hush up a gay-bashing incident that allegedly transpired in the club bathroom, and it's also where Lindsay Lohan goes to steal clothes. In this latest bit of bad press, the club's lawyer explains that "these disgruntled employees were fired for their poor work performance in addition to four other Caucasian employees that were fired that same week." (For not putting out.) more ›

A march from the Brooklyn Bridge through Chinatown to celebrate the Beijing Olympics is exposing a big rift in Manhattan's Chinese immigrant community. Opposed to the celebrations are older Chinese-Americans from Taiwan and Hong Kong who've seen their ranks diminished; on the other side are newer immigrants from the mainland who've poured into Chinatown in recent years. A 74-year-old business consultant tells the Sun,"The mainland government, they're Communists, and we don't like that. The new immigrants came from China in a happier time, so they like it more than I do." Jimmy Cheng, an organizer of this weekend's festivities, says, "People who protest about human rights in China, they don't get it. China needs to do what it needs to do." more ›

Chai Park and Jin Hee Lee, a law student and a lawyer, were stuck on line at a Manhattan Pinkberry last summer when they spotted the product seen here, an Alessi “Mandarin Citrus Juicer” that the frozen yogurt chain sells at some locations. They found the designer’s characterization of Chinese men as smiling toadies whose heads are great for squeezing juice a tad offensive. Though the Korean owners of Pinkberry insist the juicer has offended "no one," according to Racked it's no longer sold at that particular location in Koreatown. more ›

After undergraduate studies in French Literature at Columbia, Michigan-born chef Anita Lo found herself unable to resist the call of the kitchen, and relocated to France to study at the esteemed Ritz-Escoffier school. Graduating first in her class, Lo soon got her start in New York in the kitchen of David Bouley. Eight years ago she struck out on her own with the Greenwich Village favorite Annisa, which serves contemporary American cuisine with accents from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean. Critical acclaim followed, Crain's named her as one of the top 100 influential women in New York business, and she schooled Mario Batali on Iron Chef. Lo's latest move is the promising West Village restaurant Bar Q, where she's focusing on creative Asian-style barbecue, as well as a raw bar. more ›

Chef Anita Lo, whose intimate and sophisticated Barrow Street restaurant Annisa has been a hit for years, has now opened a bigger venture in the West Village. It’s a 120-seat Asian barbecue restaurant called Bar Q, which specializes in dishes like baby back ribs made with Lo’s mother’s “special sauce.” more ›