Hundreds attend rally
to support Otsego’s AAPI community

COOPERSTOWN – About 250 people attended a rally Sunday, May 2, at the Otsego County Courthouse, to support the community’s Asian American and Pacific Island residents.

The event was organized and run by a group of Cooperstown Central School freshmen, including 15-year-old Cate Bohler.

Speakers included the students, as well as local officials, including Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, Cooperstown Police Chief Frank Cavalieri, Otsego Town Supervisor Meg Kiernan and Otsego County Rep. Danny Lapin, D-Oneonta, who said he thinks he is the county’s only elected official of Asian descent. Lapin’s mom is Japanese.

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage month.

For more on the event, see this week’s editions of The Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta.