By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — New York State Senator Daniel Squadron has launched a Chinese-language hotline, hoping to break down the language barrier between Chinatown residents and the senate.
Squadron represents District 25, which includes most of Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. He made the announcement on Tuesday in Chinatown's Sara D. Roosevelt Park.
The hotline will be staffed by Cantonese and Mandarin speakers, who will take calls and then pass any comments or questions along, said Squadron, who does not speak Chinese.
"This is a community that has too often been ignored, too often has been left behind, too often has been alienated from this government," Squadron said in English on Tuesday.
He stood with a crowd of supporters from several Chinese community organizations and representatives from the offices of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, city Councilmember Alan Gerson and John Liu, Democratic nominee for comptroller.
Squadron became extremely popular in Chinatown last year, unseating longtime Senator Martin Connor, a 30-year incumbent, in the Democratic primary. Squadron was courted by the local Chinese-language press and bestowed a Chinese name: Si Cot Ching. The name roughly sounds like "Squadron" in Cantonese and is written with three Chinese characters.
Squadron's continued outreach in Chinatown comes after the recent political successes of Margaret Chin and John Liu. Chin, a community organizer and immigrant advocate who speaks three Chinese dialects, is expected to become the first Chinese-American to represent Chinatown in city council.
"I'm certainly not fluent" in Chinese, Squadron admitted on Tuesday. "The fact that I'm not fluent should not be a barrier to my ability to represent this community or this community's expectations that I represent them."
The hotline number is 917-254-3138 and will be open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m.
