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It may be history in the making.

After generations of Asian-American immigration to the city, the community is poised to see its first citywide elected official in John Liu.

"I never forget all those who ran for office before me and I learned the lessons I did from each one of those pioneers," said Liu. "I believe they are all here in this room right now. Thank you so much for leading the way so someone like me can run for citywide office."

The Flushing councilman, whose parents renamed him after the slain United States President John F. Kennedy after arriving in New York, capitalized on strong labor support to garner 56 percent of the vote in the Democratic runoff.

He defeated Brooklyn Heights Councilman David Yassky.

"This is not the party that you hoped to come to or that I hoped to have for you tonight," Yassky said.

Yassky was among four council members vying for the city's top financial post. He tried to outgun Liu in the runoff by seizing on controversy in a sharp advertisement in the campaign's waning days. Most notably, it attacked Liu's disputed claim that as a youth he worked beside his mother in a sweatshop, even as his father was a bank executive.

Liu's mother denied it, but Liu later said she was too embarrassed to acknowledge the truth.

"David Yassky ran an extraordinary campaign," Liu said. "It was aggressive, no question. He did what he needed to do to win."

Liu now faces a Republican challenge in the general election November 3. But already supporters were looking four years from now for him to make more history in an even higher office.