Democrat Raises Concerns Over Racial Imbalance in Program Approvals: A Call for Diversity

A New York City lawmaker has expressed concerns about the predominance of white women securing contracts through an initiative designed to support both women and minority entrepreneurs.

During a council meeting on November 18 focused on the Committee of Small Business, 35-year-old Democrat Councilwoman Julie Won voiced her frustration about the distribution of contracts under the City of New York’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) program.

This initiative aims to provide minority and female business owners with opportunities to obtain government contracts, facilitating their business growth, as stated on the official city website.

According to the program’s criteria, a business must be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are women and/or belong to designated minority groups.

Despite these guidelines, there is no restriction on the proportion of white women eligible to apply for these grants. Won, a Korean American residing in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City, urged the city to increase certifications to ensure that the benefits are not limited to white women alone.

Despite the terms and conditions, Won, a Korean American politician who lives in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City, demanded that the city needs ‘to get certifications up’ so it’s ‘not just white women’ benefitting from the program. 

‘Yeah, we’re gonna have to get certifications up for all of the M/WBE’s.. Looking at your breakdown of certified firms, there’s more non-minorities, so white-woman-owned firms – 26 percent – than Asian-owned, Hispanic-owned and Native American-owned that are certified,’ Won told Dwight Flynn, the first deputy chief business diversity officer for New York City.

‘So, you’re gonna have to get the certification numbers up so we actually have people of color who are also certified, not just white women,’ Won told Flynn with a straight face. 

New York City Councilwoman Julie Won, 35, expressed her fury at a recent council meeting over too many white women receiving contracts under a program meant for females and minorities

During Won’s remarks, Dwight Flynn, the first deputy chief business diversity officer for New York City, appeared stunned, and at some point stared at her blankly before replying to her 

Prior to her remark, Won quizzed Flynn on how many firms were certified under the scheme in 2025 before noting her concern that ‘our taxpayer dollars [are] going straight back into the hands of white people.’ 

‘So for the total certified firms, you are saying that we certified 11,382,’ Won told Flynn. 

‘As of the end of ’25,’ he responded. 

She then questioned: ‘Yes, and in the city of New York, how many firms total are registered with the city of New York?’ 

Before giving Flynn a chance to respond, the councilwoman added: ‘I imagine probably hundreds of thousands.’ 

‘Yeah, I mean we will circle back with you on the specific number, on that specific number for that specific question,’ he responded. 

Won then interjected: ‘Because that already is too little. 11,282 firms for the city of New York that has a $188 billion budget, 30 percent of that is going to contracting. 

‘That is an abysmal amount of money that is being – our taxpayer dollars going straight back into the hands of white people,’ she added. 

Won also quizzed Flynn on how many firms were certified under the scheme in 2025 before noting her concern that ‘our taxpayer dollars [are] going straight back into the hands of white people.’ (Pictured: The councilwoman with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in October)

Flynn seemingly looked taken aback by Won’s comment as he stared blankly at her before responding: ‘Well, I can say that, all that comes in in terms of M/WBE’s, potential M/WBE’s looking to be certified, those applications are taken in and processed. 

‘But if you have a specific question regarding that specific number relative to the larger number, we’re happy to consider it and provide you with a response,’ Flynn added before Won suggested certification numbers specifically for minority women have to increase. 

The Daily Mail contacted Won’s office for comment. 

Won’s comments come just two years after it was revealed her husband, Eugene Noh, who also worked as her campaign manager, was banned from X over a racist post he made in 2011. 

More than a decade ago, Noh, who married Won in 2020, posted on to the platform: F*** dude. Get here soon n****,’ according to a now deleted tweet obtained by New York Daily News in 2023. 

Noh, who is Asian, was 20 years old when he made the post. 

He initially denied sharing that tweet to the outlet, stating: ‘I have no idea what’s going, man. 

‘It’s not me, and I mean, clearly, it’s not me … I don’t have a Twitter. I don’t recall having one, especially over a decade ago.’ 

Won’s comments come after it was revealed her husband, Eugene Noh, who also worked as her campaign manager, was banned from X (formally known as Twitter) over a racist post he made in 2011. (Pictured: Won and Noh)

Won is seen celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in her Queens neighborhood of Long Island City 

But once the outlet sent him a screenshot of what he said, Noh, who posted through the handle @EugeneNoh, said he ‘must have forgotten about this account.’ 

‘It looks like I had forgotten that I had a Twitter,’ he told Daily News. 

‘When you sent me the screenshots, I saw like, “Oh no, that’s clearly me”… It looks like I tweeted like 150 times over six years. So it’s like a pretty miniscule part of my life … That’s why I forgot,’ Noh added. 

The outlet also uncovered tweets he made about homosexuality and the disabled community. 

‘I don’t care what anybody says, being homosexual is still not as gay as Twilight,’ the post, retweeted by Noh in December 2011 from the account ‘Men’s Humor,’ read. 

Just months earlier he wrote: ‘Lisp has an s in it so ppl with the condition can self-diagnose themselves, methinks,’ per the outlet. 

In response to his posts, Noh said: ‘A decade ago as a young man, I said and did many things that were obnoxious, attention-seeking or flat-out offensive — a lot of which I regret right now as a father and as a husband. 

‘Really, it’s no wonder Julie refused to date me until I turned 30.’ 

It remains unclear exactly when his X account got suspended as it was active as recently as 2018, the outlet reported.