Peter Koo

Peter Ah-Ming Koo (born September 5, 1952)^[1] is a Chinese American politician who represented the 20th district of the New York City Council from 2010 to 2021. He is a Democrat. The district includes portions of Bayside, College Point, Flushing, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Fresh Meadows and Whitestone in Queens.

Peter Koo
顧雅明
Member of the New York City Council from the 20th district
In office January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2021
Preceded by	John Liu
Succeeded by	Sandra Ung
Personal details
Born	(1952-09-05) September 5, 1952 (age 72) Shanghai, China
Political party	Republican (Prior to 2012) Democratic (Since 2012)
Spouse	Bernadette Ching Koo
Children	2
Alma mater	New Mexico College of Pharmacy
Website	Official website

Peter Koo
Traditional Chinese	顧雅明
Simplified Chinese	顾雅明
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gù Yǎmíng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gu3 ngaa5 ming4

Koo and Manhattan Council member Margaret Chin comprise the Asian-American delegation of the council.

Life and career

Koo is a Chinese American born in Shanghai 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 College of Pharmacy in 1975 where he paid his way through by working minimum wage jobs at Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin' Donuts, Koo is a pharmacist who developed a five-store chain of pharmacies called Starside Drugs Pharmacy.^[2]

He has been a member of Queens Community Board 7. Previously, he unsuccessfully challenged local state senator Toby Ann Stavisky in 2008.^[3] He has been called the "Mayor" of Flushing.

In January 2012,^[4] Koo changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic.^[5]

In 2018, Koo proposed legislation before being term limited out of The New York City Council to ban smoking cigarettes while walking.^[6]

New York City Council

Koo was elected to the city council seat on November 3, 2009, defeating Democratic Party nominee Yen Chou, Working Families Party nominee S.J. Jung, and Green Party nominee Evergreen Chou. He assumed the position that was held by John Liu, the New York City Comptroller.^[7] He was term limited out of office at the end of 2021.

Election history
Location	Year	Election	Results
NY Senate District 16	2008	General	√ Toby Ann Stavisky (D) 69.44% Peter Koo (R) 30.56%
NYC Council District 20	2009	General	√ Peter Koo (R) 49.05% Yen S. Chou (D) 45.24% S.J. Jung (Working Families) 4.06% Evergreen Chou (Green) 1.64%
NYC Council District 20	2013	General	√ Peter Koo (D) 79.67% Martha Flores-Vazqeuz (Jobs & Education) 10.38% Sunny Hahn (Reform) 6.40% Evergreen Chou (Green) 3.38%
NYC Council District 20	2017	Primary	√ Peter Koo 57.9% Alison Tan 41.67% [10]

Koo serves on the following New York City Council committees:^[11]

• 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.

See also

• Hong Kong Americans in New York City