Flushing assembly race gets ugly with claims of ‘cyberbullying’ burner accounts

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Assemblymember Ron Kim is facing off against NYPD Sgt. Steven Lee in Flushing’s 40th District. Photos via the campaigns

Assemblymember Ron Kim is facing off against NYPD Sgt. Steven Lee in Flushing’s 40th District. Photos via the campaigns

By David Brand 

A former city council candidate has accused a Flushing developer of using a fake social media account to ‘cyberbully’ and smear her husband, Assemblymember Ron Kim, in a race quickly emerging as one of Queens’ ugliest primary fights.

In a lengthy Facebook post Tuesday, Alison Tan, who lost a bid for city council in 2017, blasted developer Mike Cheng for “cyberharassing” her and Kim while advising Kim’s primary opponent, NYPD Sgt. Steven Lee, in the contest for Assembly District 40. 

Cheng, who served with Tan on Queens Community Board 7, had shared a cartoon of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un praising Kim for his political ideology — including calls to defund the NYPD and decriminalize sex work. Tan included screenshots of a text message exchange between Cheng and other Lee supporters on Facebook.

“He pretends to be our friend and then schemes to spread lies about us by using imagery of North Korean dictator Kim Jon-Un to make fun of Ron,” Tan wrote on Facebook. 

The political cartoon also hits a familiar theme among Kim critics — while Kim condemns overdevelopment and displacement, he lives in a Flushing luxury high-rise while Tan, his wife, has worked at a boutique real estate firm. 

Kim’s vocal opposition to development has made him public enemy number one among the influential Flushing real estate set, including Cheng, who has ties to Mayor Bill de Blasio and received hotel construction approval after hosting a fundraiser for his failed presidential campaign. Cheng did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story.

In a statement, a Kim campaign spokesperson called Cheng and Lee “morally compromised individuals.”

“[They] have been creating fake social media profiles — something out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook — to create fake content and racist cartoons that attack Assembly Member Kim for being Korean and attack his wife for being an independent woman with a career,” the spokesperson added.

Lee, a cop suing the NYPD for corruption, received the endorsement of Councilmember Donovan Richards, a candidate for borough president, on Sunday. Richards praised Lee for his work in the community during the COVID-19 outbreak. But Lee’s critics have honed in on campaign videos posted on Lee’s Facebook page, including a diatribe equating abortion with murder.

Lee told the Eagle that he does not condone the use of phony social media accounts, but Kim, he said, is the one who has been engaging in online harassment.

“He called me a corrupt cop and racist at the peak of the riots and put my full address online, putting myself, my family, my pregnant wife in danger,” Lee said, referring to a now-edited Facebook post from Kim.

“It’s politics, but if this is the dirty game they want to play, then so be it,” he continued. “This is why I’m running to clean up Albany like I’m cleaning up the police department.”

Full disclosure: Eagle publisher Michael Nussbaum has worked as a consultant for Steven Lee’s campaign.