Yuh-Line Niou (/juliːn nioʊ/; Chinese: 牛毓琳; pinyin: Niú Yùlín; born July 15, 1983)[1] is an American politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 65th district.

[6] From 2001 to 2010, her father worked as a senior director at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), a Chinese-state owned company, in Shanghai, China.

[7] After a corruption scandal involving Sheldon Silver forced his resignation, a special election was held to fill the vacancy in April 2016.

[19] She has also worked to prevent a new housing and office building from being developed on community supported green space, the Elizabeth Street Garden.

[28][29] As a member of the State Assembly, Niou served as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Catastrophic Natural Disasters that focuses on combating climate change and building a safer New York when disaster strikes,[30] and co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Task Force that focuses on fighting anti-Asian bigotry and hate crimes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

[34] She was endorsed by the Working Families Party,[35] Sunrise Movement NYC,[36] New York Communities for Change, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, State Sen. Julia Salazar, State Assemblymember Ron Kim, Mayor of Boston Michelle Wu, former gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, former candidate for Manhattan District Attorney Tahanie Aboushi, and dozens of other elected officials, activists, and organizations.

[37] Niou garnered about 1,300 fewer votes than Dan Goldman in the crowded Democratic primary from in-person ballots according to the Associated Press.

[43] In 2019, Niou voted in favor of a criminal justice reform bill that prohibits the use of cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, requires both defendants and prosecutors to share all evidence in their possession in advance of trials, and mandates all misdemeanor and felony cases in the state of New York to be resolved within 90 and 180 days, respectively.

[44] Under the reform, judges retain the ability to set bail in, for example, cases that involve a violent felony, a defendant who is charged while on probation, or are considered high-risk.

[45] During a series of civil unrest triggered by the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Niou criticized the police for "escalating tensions or resorting to violence" and called for creating a culture of accountability and fairness within law enforcement.

[59] In 2019, Niou supported a controversial lawsuit to stop a Habitat for Humanity affordable housing development for seniors in Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy.

[61] Niou supports allocating 100 percent of residential units in the proposed 5 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan as affordable housing.

[47] In the wake of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, she again advocated for expanding the court,[63] citing concern over further erosion of constitutional rights to privacy with respect to intimate practices as established by Griswold v.

"[65] However, she approves including restrictions on United States foreign aid to Israel that would prevent the use of tax dollars for harm or violations against human rights.