16 Facts About Margaret Chin

Margaret S Chin was born on May 26,1953 and is a Chinese American politician who served as a council member for the 1st district of the New York City Council from 2010 to 2021.

Margaret Chin's district included all or parts of Battery Park City, Chinatown, Civic Center, East Village, Ellis Island, Financial District, Governors Island, Greenwich Village, Liberty Island, Little Italy, Lower East Side, NoHo, Nolita, SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village.

Margaret Chin's father, who arrived in the US before his family, was an undocumented worker, working as a waiter in the Bronx; his experiences inspired his daughter to advocate for immigration reform during her political tenure.

Margaret Chin worked for 14 years at LaGuardia Community College's Division of Adult and Continuing Education.

Margaret Chin has been a member of several public service groups and organizations.

Margaret Chin was the chairperson of the New York Immigration Coalition, a policy and advocacy organization which works on issues concerning immigrants and refugees.

Margaret Chin was a board member of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, an affordable housing non-profit organization.

In local and state politics, Margaret Chin was a member of Manhattan Community Board 1 and Manhattan Community Board 3, and was elected to the New York State Democratic Committee for two terms from 1986 to 1990.

Margaret Chin earned 4,541 votes to Gerson's 3,520; the other three candidates, PJ Kim, Pete Gleason, and Arthur Gregory won 1,927 votes, 1,293 votes, and 235 votes, respectively.

Margaret Chin was challenged in the primary by Democrat Jenifer Rajkumar, a Lower Manhattan District Leader, in a widely publicized race.

Margaret Chin has repeatedly failed to stand with residents in these neighborhoods on issues that are vitally important to their quality of life.

Margaret Chin has been both antagonistic and unresponsive to large segments of her community.

On 8 November 2021, during the lame-duck period of her final term on the city council, Margaret Chin introduced a bill specifically targeting over 1600 housing units in her district designated as JLWQA for fines and flip-taxes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per unit.

Margaret Chin nevertheless tabled and voted for the bill, triggering years of legal action after her retirement.

Margaret Chin is married to Alan Tung, a public school teacher, and has retired to San Diego, California.

Margaret Chin completed his studies at Syracuse University, and is studying photography in Santa Barbara, California.