Grace Lee

Assemblymember Grace Lee represents the incredibly diverse 65th Assembly District in Lower Manhattan, including the Financial District, Chinatown, and the Lower East Side. A daughter of immigrants, Assemblymember Lee is the first Korean American woman ever elected to the New York State Legislature. She serves as Chair of the Assembly’s Asian Pacific American Task Force. Recognized by City & State as “a rising star in the Democratic Party,” Assemblymember Lee has built a strong legislative record since taking office in 2023. In her first year, Assemblymember Lee led the fight to secure nearly $400 million through ERAP to stabilize NYCHA developments, working alongside public housing residents, and tenant leaders across the state, rallying to get critical resources into our communities. A leading voice against hate, Assemblymember Lee sponsored and passed the Hate Crimes Modernization Act – the first update to New York’s hate crimes laws in more than two decades – and advanced reforms to hold social media companies accountable for hate and harassment. Assemblymember Lee is an outspoken advocate for survivors of abuse and a voice advancing women’s rights. In 2023, Assemblymember Lee publicly called out Columbia University’s systemic failures that enabled the abuse committed by ex-OBGYN Robert Hadden, and pushed the institution to notify former patients and launch an internal investigation. This past session, she introduced the STOP Act to restore public trust and confront the culture of impunity that protected Andrew Cuomo and other powerful actors for too long. Assemblymember Lee has fought for inclusion in New York State. She led the effort to pass legislation making New York the first state in the country to recognize Lunar New Year as a statewide school holiday. As Chair of the Assembly Asian Pacific American Task Force, she also launched the first-ever AAPI Legislative Caucus Weekend to expand the caucus’s visibility and institutional capacity alongside other major legislative caucus groups. Assemblymember Lee lives in Lower Manhattan with her husband and three young daughters. She received her BA from Columbia University and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.