Peter Ah-Ming Koo (born September 5, 1952) is a Chinese American politician who represented the 20th district of the New York City Council from 2010 to 2021. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district includes portions of Bayside, College Point,

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

Flushing Meadows Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

Fresh Meadows Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway; to the west by Po ...

and Whitestone in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Koo and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Council member

Margaret Chin Margaret S. Chin (born May 26, 1953) is a Hong Kong American politician who served as a council member for the 1st district of the New York City Council. A Democrat, she and Queens Council member Peter Koo comprised the Asian American deleg ...

comprise the Asian-American delegation of the council.

Life and career

Koo is a Chinese American born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in 1952. Prior to immigrating to the United States in 1971, he lived in the former British Hong Kong. Graduating from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

College of Pharmacy in 1975 where he paid his way through by working minimum wage jobs at Kentucky Fried Chicken and

Dunkin Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

, Koo is a pharmacist who developed a five-store chain of pharmacies called Starside Drugs Pharmacy. He has been a member of

Queens Community Board 7 The Queens Community Board 7 is a local governmental advisory board in New York City, encompassing the neighborhoods of Flushing, Bay Terrace, College Point, Whitestone, Malba, Murray Hill, Linden Hill, Beechhurst, Queensboro Hill and Will ...

. Previously, he unsuccessfully challenged local state senator

Toby Ann Stavisky Toby Ann Stavisky (née Goldhaar, born June 26, 1939) is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate, having held a seat since 1999. She represents the 11th district, which comprises parts of Queens. Life and caree ...

in 2008. He has been called the "Mayor" of Flushing. In January 2012, Koo changed his party affiliation from

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to Democratic.

New York City Council

Koo was elected to the city council seat on November 3, 2009, defeating

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominee Yen Chou,

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...

nominee S.J. Jung, and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

nominee Evergreen Chou. He assumed the position that was held by

John Liu John Chun Yah Liu (born January 8, 1967) is an American politician in New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a member of the New York State Senate for the 11th district in northeast Queens. He previously served as the 43rd New Y ...

, the

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

. Koo serves on the following New York City Council committees: * Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing * Economic Development * Land Use ** Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses (subcommittee of Land Use Committee) * Parks and Recreation * Technology (He serves as chair of this committee.) * Transportation Caucuses *Black, Latino/a, and Asian Caucus

Personal life

Peter has been married for 26 years and has two children, a boy and a girl.

References

External links

Councilman Peter Koo (official site)@CMPeterKoo (official Twitter)Re-elect Peter Koo for City Council (campaign site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koo, Peter 1952 births 21st-century American politicians American businesspeople in retailing American politicians of Chinese descent Asian-American New York City Council members Asian-American people in New York (state) politics Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Chinese emigrants to the United States Living people Businesspeople from New York (state) New York (state) Democrats New York (state) Republicans New York City Council members People from Queens, New York Pharmacists from New York City Politicians from Shanghai University of New Mexico alumni

Life and career

New York City Council

Personal life

See also

References

External links