9th Annual Banquet (2010) – Biographies

Honorees

Joseph Crowley was first elected to Congress in 1998 and is serving his sixth term representing New York’s 7th Congressional District. The 7th district includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, including Co-op City, Soundview, Pelham Parkway, Morris Park, Van Nest, Allerton, Parkchester, Throggs Neck, City Island and Silver Beach in the Bronx, as well as Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Maspeth, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and College Point in Queens.

Joe is a well-positioned, effective advocate for his district. He serves in the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Chief Deputy Whip – making him the highest-ranking New York Democrat in the leadership of U.S. House of Representatives. He also sits on two prestigious committees in the House – the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

National and local media have written about Joe’s leadership as a member of Congress and ability to deliver for his constituents. In February 2010, National Journal Magazine named Joe “a rising star” in the Democratic Caucus and mentioned his role as someone often tasked with significant responsibilities in the House. The influential Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call said, “Crowley has gained respect from his caucus for coalition-building and legislative know-how,” and Congressional Quarterly commented that he plays “important roles in the [Democratic] caucus.” The New York Times noted that his peers consider him to be “a hard working representative” and an “impassioned advocate for his district.”

Joe has used his post on the powerful Committee on Ways and Means, which oversees the nation’s tax and trade policies, Social Security and Medicare to make healthcare more affordable, improve education tax credits that can help families afford the cost of college, protect seniors’ hard-earned benefits, and reduce taxes for hard-working families in the Bronx and Queens.

Joe sought a seat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs when first elected because of his district’s ties to communities around the globe. New York’s 7th district, which is home to neighborhoods such as Little India, Little Colombia and Little Korea, is the one of the most ethnically diverse in the nation. In his decade of service on the Committee, Joe has championed efforts to promote democracy and anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh, strengthen relations between the United States and India, fight HIV/AIDs in Africa, establish peace in the Middle East and build stronger relations between the United States and countries in Latin America such as the Dominican Republic. He also authored legislation that was signed into law in 2008 to award Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal in support of her work to secure freedom and democracy for the people of Burma.

As the only member of Congress to have lost a relative during the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Joe has dedicated himself both to honoring those who lost their lives during the response and to protecting our nation against any future attack. He authored the 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor Act, which awarded a special Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to the families of the 442 firefighters, police officers and emergency workers who perished during the attack. The medals were presented to the families on September 9, 2005 during a ceremony on the south lawn of the White House.

Additionally, Joe oversaw the successful creation of the Urban Area Security Initiative, which ensures that federal Homeland Security grant money is distributed on the basis of risk – not politics or partisanship. Since 2003, this initiative has delivered more than $529 million in federal anti-terror funds to New York City.

Joe has lifelong ties to Queens and the Bronx. He grew up in Woodside, earned a B.A. from Queens College, co-owned and ran a successful small business in Queens for more than a decade and represented parts of his congressional district in the New York State Assembly from 1986 to 1998. He has been married to Kasey Crowley for more than a decade and they have three young children – Cullen, Kenzie and Liam.

 

Kam Wong is the President and Chief Executive Officer of New York’s Municipal Credit Union (MCU), one of the oldest and largest credit unions in the country. Born in Hong Kong, he lived there until the age of nineteen when he and his family immigrated to the United States.

Mr. Wong started his career in accounting positions at Banco do Brasil and Chase Manhattan Bank before coming to Municipal Credit Union in 1981. In 1988, he became MCU’s Chief Financial Officer, a position in which he was instrumental in developing the credit union’s solid fiscal and investment policies. In 2006 Mr. Wong was named the credit union’s President and in 2007 he assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer, as well.

Mr. Wong is a Certified Management Accountant and a Certified Financial Manager as designated by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Baruch College, at the City University of New York, and an MBA in finance from Dowling College of New York.

 

Emcee

Vivian Lee joined NY1 as an anchor/reporter in September of 2008. Early in her tenure she covered the mortgage crisis, the MTA’s doomsday budget hearings, and the death of an emotionally disturbed man in Brooklyn resulting from police use of an electroshock weapon.

She also covered the surrender of three police officers indicted in connection with the alleged sodomy assault of a Brooklyn resident.

In December, Lee was the first in the city to report the arrest of a firefighter for allegedly calling in false alarms to 911 because he was upset over firehouse closings.

In 2002, Lee worked at WNBC as a general assignment reporter on stories such as Eliot Spitzer’s sex scandal and resignation, and Manhattan’s two deadly crane collapses. Before her stint at Channel 4, Lee was the Parliamentary Correspondent for Citytv of the CHUM Network in Canada, where she covered governmental affairs in Ottawa after being posted to the bureau after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor for newscasts on CityPulse News in Toronto. She also co-anchored the evening news at A-Channel in Calgary.

Lee earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

 

Performers

Dance China NY is America’s premier traditional Chinese dance company. The Manhattan-based Dance China NY is in residence at the New York Chinese Cultural Center in New York’s Chinatown, founded in 1973. Dance China NY presents dazzling and rich programs of traditional Chinese dance, Peking Opera and music for audiences of all ages. They transport audiences to worlds of colorful myths, historical drama, and timeless beauty with stimulating programs that weave through various terrains of time, region, legend and reality.

The Company is comprised of award-winning professional dancers and musicians including internationally renowned artists from performance stages and academies throughout mainland China, Taiwan and the United States. Noted for their powerful grace and contained elegance, Dance China NY performs regularly throughout the United States for audiences of all ages. Each year, the Company presents over 750 performances, workshops, master classes and lecture/demonstrations for over 180,000 people. The Company has toured across 26 states bringing the movements and rhythms of China to communities large and small.

Monkey King

The Monkey King is a very famous dance in China.  The audience is presented with a first-hand display of the Monkey King’s acrobatic skill, bravery, quick-wittedness and immense ability.  He lives in the flower fruit mountain and was born out of rock so he is very strong and durable.  The Monkey King is indestructible, immortal and extremely intelligent.  He has the ability to change into 72 different shapes and in addition, he has the ability to fly!

 

Hubei Fan

This rural folk dance from Hubei province is known for its distinctive ‘flicking’ of silk fans.

URL: http://www.nychineseculturalcenter.org/

Lei Pasifika performs an exciting show featuring traditional and contemporary South Pacific songs and dances not only from Hawaii, but from other islands of the Polynesian triangle such as Cook Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, The Samoas and many more…

The performers are native of the South Pacific, as well as a few who are interested in being apart of the culture. We are proud and honored to promote, share and bring knowledge of the prosperous exotic cultures from the Islands of Polynesia. Our polynesian shows are designed for both children and adults.

URL: www.leipasifika.com