Sharon Lee (politician) facts for kids

Sharon Lee is an American politician from New York City. She is a member of the Democratic Party. From January 2020 to December 2020, she served as the borough president of Queens. This was during the time when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. Sharon Lee made history as the first person of Asian descent to become a borough president in New York City.

During the tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharon Lee worked hard to help the people of Queens. She made sure tons of food were given out and supported small businesses. She also organized many online job fairs to help people find work. She helped with the 2020 presidential election during the pandemic. Lee also secured money for hospitals, including doubling the number of special nurses (SANE nurses) in Queens hospitals. She stood up for racial justice after the police killing of George Floyd. She also helped Queens County get a good count in the 2020 United States Census.

Some of her important projects included giving $1 million to the FDNY's Decontamination Specialization Unit in Corona, Queens. This money helped them buy new equipment to clean firefighters' gear. She also gave $5.4 million to Elmhurst Hospital, one of Queens' public hospitals. This money helped fund advanced cancer treatment technology. Sharon Lee also shared her views on important land use plans, like recommending against the 2020 Flushing Waterfront rezoning plan.

Lee was one of the first leaders to speak out against the rise in anti-Asian hate, especially after the Atlanta spa shootings.

Before becoming Borough President, she served as the Deputy Queens Borough President from November 2018 to December 2019.

Sharon Lee's Public Service

Sharon Lee has held several important roles in public service, working to improve New York City.

Becoming Borough President

Lee was appointed Deputy Borough President in November 2018. She then took over as Borough President from Melinda Katz in January 2020. Melinda Katz had been elected as the Queens District Attorney in November 2019. As Borough President, Sharon Lee led Queens' efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier Roles in Government

Before becoming Borough President, Lee worked as the Executive Director for the Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz's Transition Committee from November to December 2019. From November 2014 to October 2018, she was the Communications Director for the Queens Borough President's office.

Earlier in her career, Lee was a Senior Advisor and Press Secretary for former New York City Comptroller John Liu from September 2009 to December 2013. In this role, she helped create important transparency projects. One example is Checkbook NYC, launched in 2010, which gave people easy access to information about how the City spent its money. Another was MWBE Report Card NYC in 2021, which tracked how well City agencies were doing in reaching their goals for working with minority and women-owned businesses. She was also part of the team that found and exposed a big fraud case called CityTime in 2010. This work helped the City get back a huge amount of money, $500 million.

From 2006 to 2009, she worked as Policy Director and Press Secretary for former New York City Councilmember John Liu, who chaired the Transportation Committee.

Sharon Lee believes that healthcare spending should not be cut. She chose not to run for re-election in the 2020 election.